Last week, the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame made an announcement that has been long overdue. The Hall announced that it is making up for its past omissions by inducting the backing groups of six previous solo inductees at this year’s April 14th ceremony. The groups to be inducted include: The Crickets (Buddy Holly), The Miracles (Smokey Robinson), the Comets (Bill Haley), the Blue Caps (Gene Vincent), The Famous Flames (James Brown) and The Midnighters (Hank Ballard).
Five of these groups appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show: Buddy Holly and The Crickets (’57, ’58), Smokey Robinson and The Miracles (’68, ’69), Bill Haley and His Comets (’55, ’57), Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps (’57), and James Brown and The Famous Flames (2 times in ’66). In fact, out of the 273 artists that have been inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, 55 appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show!
This special induction is the result of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame committee review conducted to determine which groups should be recognized along with their already inducted lead singer. According to Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, “These Inductees are pioneers in the development of the music we call rock and roll.”
Every great front man is backed by a group of talented musicians and singers, who play a huge role in making his career a successful one. It is great to finally see these artists get the recognition they deserve from the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
These artists will be included along with the previously announced class of 2012 inductees featuring the Beastie Boys, Donovan, Guns N’ Roses, Laura Nyro, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Small Faces/The Faces, Freddie King, Don Kirshner, Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns.