Cheap Trick, Chicago, Deep Purple + Steve Miller Elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
A classic-rock heavy 2016 induction class finds Cheap Trick, Chicago, Deep Purple and Steve Miller joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chicago, who had been eligible since 1994, earlier claimed victory in fan voting.
Rap group N.W.A. round out the list of honorees at the 31st annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, set for April 8, 2016 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The event will be subsequently broadcast by HBO at an undetermined date.
Deep Purple, whose absence has long been pegged as one of the hall's most egregious errors, first became eligible for induction – like Miller – in 1993. Cheap Trick has been eligible since 2002. More than 800 voters decide who emerges from the ballot, along with the aggregate results from an online fan poll.
Alas, a ceremony often plagued by controversy could suffer the same fate this year. Deep Purple and Steve Miller were in the Top 5 in the fan vote, but actually finished behind also-rans Yes and and the Cars. Further down in the poll, Cheap Trick was lodged at No. 7, while N.W.A. was at No. 12.
Then there is the possibility of lingering issues among bandmates for these newly-nominated groups.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has welcomed all members of the sometimes-contentious Deep Purple's heralded Mk. II lineup, including Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, the late Jon Lord and Ian Paice. Also inducted: Rod Evans, frontman in the Mk. I edition which likewise included Blackmore, Lord and Paice; and subsequent Mk. III-IV members David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes. On the outside looking in, however, were those who later worked with the Blackmore-less editions of Deep Purple – notably guitarists Tommy Bolin and Steve Morse.
Chicago's inductees only include their original lineup, leaving out former member Bill Champlin – who sang on '80s-era hits like "Hard Habit to Break" (a No. 3 hit with original singer Peter Cetera, gone since 1985), "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" and "Look Away," the latter of which was Chicago's most recent chart-topper. The band also split with co-founding honoree Danny Seraphine in 1990.
All four original members of Cheap Trick are being inducted, including drummer Bun E. Carlos, whose in-limbo status with the group prompted a just-settled court battle. Miller, though he released his best-known hits under the umbrella of the Steve Miller Band, is being inducted alone.
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