The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced the inductees for 2014, which includes a wide range of artists from several decades, including Kiss and Nirvana.
The 2014 induction will take place at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on April 10 but will air on HBO in May, according to Rolling Stone. The upcoming ceremony will be the first to allow the general public to attend and tickets go on sale in January. This will be the first time it has been held in the Barclays Center, and therefore the largest ceremony yet.
Artists are eligible for induction to the Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single, and Nirvana is being inducted in its first year of eligibility – the grunge band’s first single, “Love Buzz,” came out in 1988. Dave Grohl released a statement about the honor:
For once… I’m speechless. From the basements, to the dingy clubs, to the broken down vans, to… the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’d like to thank the committee not only for this induction, but also for recognizing Nirvana for what we were: pure rock and roll. Most of all, thank you to all of the fans that have supported rock and roll throughout the years, and to Kurt and Krist, without whom I would not be here today.
Another 2014 inductee, Kiss, has been eligible for 15 years before finally being accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Gene Simmons may reunite with original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss at the event. Inductee Linda Ronstadt will most likely not be able to attend due to her battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Peter Gabriel, who couldn’t attend when his band Genesis was welcomed to the Hall of Fame in 2010, said,
This time I will definitely go. I’m very grateful to have gotten in again. It’s a huge honor since it’s for your whole body of work and not just a specific project. . .I’ll probably perform, but if I do ‘In Your Eyes’ it’ll take 10 minutes and that might be all the time I have.
The full list of artist inductees is Cat Stevens (Yusaf Islam), Hall & Oates (Daryl Hall and John Oates), Nirvana, Kiss, Linda Ronstadt, and Peter Gabriel. The E Street Band will be receiving the Award for Music Excellence and both Beatles manager Brian Epstein and Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham will be given the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers.