Always a star-studded event, The Rock and
Roll Hall of FameFoundation has named the artists who will induct this year’s seven new honorees at its March 10 ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.
Leonard Cohen will be inducted by Lou Reed; The Dave Clark Five (Dave Clark, Lenny Davidson, Rick Huxley, Denis Payton and Mike Smith) will be inducted by Tom Hanks, which will be a bittersweet moment for the ‘60s British Invasion group, who recently lost band member Smith to pneumonia on Feb. 28; Madonna will be inducted by Justin Timberlake; John Mellencamp will be inducted by Billy Joel; and The Ventures (Bob Bogle, Nokie Edwards, Gerry McGee, Mel Taylor, Don Wilson) will be inducted by John Fogerty.
Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff will be inducted by Jerry Butler in the non-performer category, while Little Walter will be inducted by Ben Harper in the sideman category for helping establish blues harmonica.
The 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were chosen by the 600 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after their first recording is released. Mellencamp and The Ventures are among the artists slated to perform at the event.
In addition to being honored at the ceremony, each inductee will be commemorated within the I.M. Pei-designed museum in Cleveland, OH. The signature of each inductee will be inscribed in glass, and artifacts from this year’s inductees will also be on display. The exhibit will run for one year, and will also include a multi-media film presentation with highlights from each artist’s career.
(The image accompanying this story is from ContactMusic.com)
