Month: October 2018

Via Rolling Stone: The nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 are in, and the list includes Radiohead, Def Leppard, Stevie Nicks, Rage Against the Machine, the Cure, Devo, Janet Jackson, Kraftwerk, LL Cool J, Roxy Music, Todd Rundgren, John Prine, MC5, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan and the Zombies. The top vote-getters will be announced in December and inducted March 29th, 2019 at a ceremony at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. HBO will broadcast the event later next year.

To be eligible for this year’s ballot, each nominee’s first single or album had to released in 1993 or earlier. Several of the nominees have appeared on previous ballots, but this is first appearance for Def Leppard, Devo, Prine, Roxy Music, Nicks and Rundgren. Radiohead and Rage Against the Machine both made their debut appearance last year in their first period of eligibility. This is the fifth appearance for Kraftwerk and LL Cool J, the fourth for the Zombies, the third for Janet Jackson and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan and the second for the Cure.

A voting pool of more than 1,000 artists, historians, journalists and members of the music industry will select the new class, and once again fans will have a chance to be a part of the process. They can vote on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s website or visit the museum in Cleveland and make a selection at an interactive kiosk.

As in recent years, the Hall of Fame has announced the individual members of each band that will be inducted. The current lineup of Def Leppard is listed along with the late Steve Clark and original guitarist Pete Willis.

The classic Roxy Music lineup of Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera, Eddie Jobson and Paul Thompson made the cut, though none of their many bassists did. Roxy hasn’t played with Brian Eno since he left in 1973, which could lead to a historic reunion should the band get inducted.

The core Kraftwerk lineup of Karl Bartos, Wolfgang Flür, Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider are listed, though at this point only Hütter remains in the group, setting up another possible reunion at the ceremony.

Many musicians have come and gone through the Cure over the years, but only Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Perry Bamonte, Michael Dempsey, Simon Gallup, Lol Tolhurst, Boris Williams, Jason Cooper, Roger O’Donnell got the nod.

Rufus featuring Chaka Khan has been largely inactive since their slip in 1983. The Hall of Fame will induct Dennis Belfield, Al Ciner, Andre Fischer, Chaka Khan, Tony Maiden, Nate Morgan, Kevin Murphy, Ron Stockert, Bobby Watson should they receive enough votes.

Radiohead has had the same lineup since their formation in 1985, so it’s no great shock that Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Philip Selway all made the list. The big question is whether or not they’ll show up should they make it in. Last year, they booked a South American show on the evening of the induction ceremony before they learned they didn’t make the cut. Speaking toRolling Stone last year, bassist Colin Greenwood said he wasn’t sure if his bandmates would attend a Hall of Fame ceremony. “It might be me just doing bass versions of everything like, ‘Come on, you know this one!’” he said. “I’d have to play the bass part to ‘Creep’ five times.”

Def Leppard has been eligible for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination since 2005. But after taking look at the ballot for the class of 2019 — and the other five first-time nominees — frontman Joe Elliott isn’t complaining about his band’s 13-year wait.

“You’re looking at the likes of Todd Rundgren (23 years) and Roxy Music (21 years) and Devo (15 years), and it took them long enough to get a nomination,” Elliott tells Billboard. “So I don’t feel so bad now that we got overlooked when you see people like them, people I was out buying their records when I was 12 years old. So it’s alright. It’s kinda cool.”

Elliott first caught wind of Def Leppard’s nomination after the group wound up its tour with Journey on Sunday (Oct. 7) in Los Angeles, when managers told him “it was definitely gonna happen… I’m on vapors ’cause we’ve just done 60 shows all over the U.S., I’ve got a glass of chardonnay and I’m thinking, ‘As one door closes, another one opens…’ I mean, it’s not really gonna change my life, really, one way or the other — but Jon Bon Jovi has been telling me for at least 12 months that yes, it will.”

Nevertheless, Elliott and company are trying to keep a lid on their excitement as voting gets under way. “We’ll wait and see,” he says. “I’m not gonna hold my breath because I know how this can go. Judas Priest didn’t get in last year, and it’s a big disappointment for them that they didn’t. So I’m not taking anything for granted.” Nevertheless, Def Leppard is buoyed by the fan vote that comprises one ballot, and usually picks eventually inductees such as Bon Jovi, Chicago and the Moody Blues.

“That’s kind of swung our attention into a much more positive situation,” Elliott explains. “People keep sending us snapshots if they’re at the (Cleveland) museum — ‘Check out the fan vote!’ and there’s our name at the top, like 300 percent higher than whoever is the No. 2 choice of the fans. That sort of makes it a lot more realistic for us. It’s not this cloak and dagger thing, it is actually bringing the real people to have a bit of a vote on it, if you will.”

Elliott was also pleased to learn that original guitarist Pete Willis, who left after Def Leppard’s second album, was included in the eligible roster — “Pete is very important in the very early embryonic version of this band,” Elliott says — and if the group is inducted it might bring Willis back out into the public for the first time in decades. “I really couldn’t tell you how that’s going to pan out,” Elliott says. “Would we welcome his company? Well, why not? If he’s nominated, he’s rightly nominated. He does deserve to be on the list.”

While Rock Hall voting is going on Def Leppard will be busy on the road, playing Hysteria full-album shows in Hawaii, Japan, Australia and other markets, wrapping up for the year during mid-December in London. The group has done some “bits and bobs” of recording, though no new album is planned at the moment. But Elliott acknowledges that he is hoping there will be something positive to talk about during early December, when the Rock Hall inductees are usually revealed.

“When I look at the list of who’s in, it’s just obvious you’d want to be in that club, isn’t it?” he says. “I’m definitely not Groucho Marx, ‘Any club that would have me as a member I don’t want to join.’ When you think that every band that means anything in the world, starting from the Beatles and the Stones and any artist that influenced them — your Chuck Berrys, your Little Richards, etc. etc. — then of course you want to be in. Why wouldn’t you?”

Just announced – Def Leppard has been named a 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee! Voting begins now on rockhall.com/fanvote and you can vote once per day until Dec. 9. Thank you to all of our fans for the support!

To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. Six out of 15 of the Nominees are on the ballot for the first time, including Def Leppard.

Inductees will be announced in December 2018. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2019 Induction Ceremony, presented by Klipsch Audio, will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on March 29, 2019. Ticket on-sale information will be announced in January.

Ballots will be sent to an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians and members of the music industry. Factors such as an artist’s musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation and superiority in style and technique are taken into consideration.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will again offer fans the opportunity to officially participate in the induction selection process. Beginning October 9 and continuing through 11:59 p.m. EST on December 9, 2018, fans can visit rockhall.com to cast votes for who they believe to be most deserving of induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The top five artists, as selected by the public, will comprise a “fans’ ballot” that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2019 inductees. Fans will need to login to vote. Voting is capped at one ballot per day.

Fans can also visit the Museum in Cleveland to cast their vote in person using the Voice Your Choice interactives adjacent to the 2018 Inductee exhibit in the new Hall of Fame Gallery, presented by KeyBank.

HBO will also once again broadcast the ceremony in 2019 and SiriusXM will also carry a radio simulcast, along with specials leading up to the Ceremony devoted to the Rock Hall’s Inductees—past and present— on Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Radio (Ch. 310).

Vivian Campbell is offering a once in a lifetime experience for two fans in his home city, all in aid of the Northern Ireland Hospice.

Please help donate HERE

DEF Leppard’s Vivian Campbell will make two fans’ dreams come true this December when the world-famous rock band arrives in Belfast.

Belfast-born Campbell, who is an Ambassador for Northern Ireland Hospice and Children’s Hospice, is offering a once-in-a-lifetime experience to have lunch with him in his native city, meet the band and enjoy VIP passes to Def Leppard’s historic Hysteria gig at the SSE Arena, as well as hotel accommodation. The experience will be won in an online auction hosted by GIVERGY.COM and will also see two fans attend the pre-show sound-check and play a song for them too. In addition to that, it will also include an autographed edition of Def Leppard’s vinyl boxset released this year and two Hysteria tour tee-shirts.

Guitarist Campbell, 55, become a Northern Ireland Hospice Ambassador earlier this year, supporting the palliative care charity which cares for more than 3,500 adults and children every year. A former Rathmore Grammar School pupil who progressed in the rock scene with bands such as Dio, Whitesnake and Riverdogs, joined Def Leppard in 1992. He has released a number of top albums with the Sheffield rockers such as Slang, Euphoria, Songs from the Sparkle Lounge and most recently the self-titled ‘Def Leppard’ album which received critical acclaim.

Northern Ireland Hospice CEO Heather Weir said: “Vivian Campbell has offered Def Leppard fans a real once-in-a-lifetime experience, a chance to meet rock legends in our beautiful city. It will be an experience to cherish for life. “Vivian is a wonderful Ambassador for Northern Ireland Hospice – open to discovering new ways to support us and raise awareness of the care services we provide for children and adults. This is something we are all excited about.”

In 2013, Campbell was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and openly discussed his treatment with patients when he made a private visit to Northern Ireland Hospice in November 2017. He said: “I’ve always considered myself to be blessed in my music career and it makes me proud that an organisation such as Northern Ireland Hospice recognise this and have asked that I represent what they do. “I have personal experience too with my battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and I can empathise with patients and families on their journeys. Northern Ireland Hospice is a wonderful organisation that I am happy to support and highlight the palliative care services it provides.”

At the December 2 show in Belfast, Def Leppard will perform their global success album Hysteria in full. The album, first released in 1987, has sold over 30-million copies and includes huts such as Pour Some Sugar on Me, Love Bites, Animal and Hysteria. It is one of the most successful rock albums of all time.