Fans of the band Rush can now rest easy — the longstanding debate surrounding the groups merit among peers has been settled as the band will headline this year’s group of inductees into Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Geddy Lee and company will join Public Enemy, Donna Summer, Heart, Randy Newman and Albert King as those who will be enshrined this coming April. Rush had long been the band that most, specifically around the Cleveland area, had claimed were being held out of the Rock Hall without reason; year after year, other alleged not-as-qualified acts would be enshrined without Rush being even nominated.
“I thought they’d get in eventually, and they did,” Hall CEO Terry Stewart said on Tuesday. “It’s not a sprint. There are a lot of artists who get in later than they should.”
In a special press conference in Los Angeles, where this year’s inductions will be held, the Rock Hall also announced two Lifetime Achievement Awards: producer-composer-arranger Quincy Jones and producer-director Lou Adler.
Those who were left out of this year’s class include classic rock band Deep Purple, Procul Harum, Kraftwerk, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, the Marvelettes, the Meters, seminal rap group NWA, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Chic.
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