And the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Are...

By PopEater / Wire Services Posted Dec 15th 2010 07:34AM

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will welcome Tom Waits, Neil Diamond, Darlene Love and the Alice Cooper Band as its 2011 batch of inductees.

Diamond had been eligible for the honor for several years but never received a nomination to join music's prestigious club. But he was never really worried about it.

"I thought about it occasionally, but I kind of figured they'd get around to me at some point," he told the AP in a phone interview.

That point came on Tuesday, as the 2011 class for the Cleveland hall was revealed. Diamond, whose hits include 'Sweet Caroline,' finally made the list.

Piano man Leon Russell was honored with a musical excellence award, previously the sideman category. Executives Jac Holzman and Art Rupe were given the Ahmet Ertegun Awards.

It took three tries before Love, best known for hits such as '(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry' and her work with producer Phil Spector and the Blossoms, was approved for the hall. When reached on Tuesday, an enthusiastic Love said: "I can actually breathe."

"Finally it's done," she added. "It still hasn't hit me yet. I still have that nervous stomach, and I'm still excited."

The excitement will have to wait for some: Bon Jovi, nominated for the first time, was turned away from the hall, as was LL Cool J, the J. Geils Band, the Beastie Boys, Donna Summer and more.

No Smiths! No Kiss! No Kraftwerk! No WEIRD AL! See Hall of Fame's Most Egregious Snubs

Alice Cooper's name had been mentioned in conjunction with the Rock Hall for years, but the shock rocker hadn't been nominated until this year. Like Diamond, Cooper said he wasn't anxiously waiting.

"You know it crosses your mind, but then you think of all the guys who aren't in there, some of them before you, and you go, 'Wow.' ... You realize that it's a waiting game," he said in a phone interview. "I don't think you sit around holding your breath on it."

Cooper, a heavy metal rocker best known for his dark horror themes, said his band was responsible for bringing show business into rock 'n' roll.

"There was no spectacle in rock 'n' roll, and I think what we did was we kind of brought theater to rock 'n' roll," said Cooper, known for a goth look, heavy eyeliner and black shaggy hair. "It was sort of Cirque du Soleil before Cirque du Soleil. It was kind of a weird vaudeville that we did. But it all connected back to the lyrics. ... If we do a 10-hour rehearsal back then, nine hours was on the music, and one hour was on the theatrics."

Diamond was on the other end of the spectrum, a singer-songwriter whose first hit came in the form of a song he wrote for the Monkees, 'I'm a Believer.' His early hits in the 1960s included 'Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon' and 'Cherry Cherry.'

"The music I was doing was not in vogue. ... I was like a lone voice out there with a guitar, and it was different than what was going on because it was the English invasion and I wasn't doing that," Diamond said. "I think I've had so many hits because what I was putting out and what I was writing was very different for what was being played on the radio."

He's kept producing relevant material through the decades; he released his latest album this fall. Diamond said he was gratified to be in the hall and said his first choice to induct him would be a fan. Of his induction, he joked: "I'm glad they did it before I'm dead."

Love said she thought two of her biggest boosters for the hall -- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Stevie Van Zandt - would likely do the honors at the March 14 induction ceremony in New York City.

She was also happy for some of the other inductees, including Russell, who used to play on some of her sessions.

"This is going to be a helluva jam session," she quipped about the upcoming festivities.

The induction ceremony will be aired on Fuse.

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Tags: Alice Cooper, Darlene Love, Neil Diamond, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Tom Waits

Comments

(75)

Wednesday 15 December

By zodig

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Squeeze and Dire Straits

By Dan Caradori

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Congratulations to Neil and the other new members.
Neil you not only gave us great music but when it came to your concerts you always gave us a show that was discussed for days regarding the quality of the concert.
Your recognition was overdue but their is now justice in the Rock and roll Hall of fame.

By wlh1923

Some interesting selections there. Tom Waits had a haunting voice and certainly not mainstream. Don't mean to be nasty here but I've never heard of Darlene Love. Seriously, who is she? no disrespect intended

By sjfarrier

Loved Alice Cooper, but if Tom Waits can be inducted......I am proud to announce that I will be inducted next year as I have no talent either.

By mrjjj5

Yep

By lance long

yes to alice cooper.....he was the king of shock rock...still no kiss....thats a shame...they have been around for 35 years...sold more records than the beatles....a great band to see live...wheres the love for kiss....this is the rock and roll hall of fame...right??

By Paul

Al Kooper should have been inducted by now, he started in the Blues Project and Blood Sweat and Tears and a number of solo albums. Played organ on Bob Dylans 'lIKE a Rolling Stone.

By carolyn

where is KISS this is stupid they should been in last year I am glad that Neil Diamond is in he is great and of course Leon Russell

Thursday 16 December

By Dwayne warnock

Without the Big Bopper you have a hall of SHAME!!!!!

By GFR

Three Words.....Grand Funk Railroad

Friday 07 January

By Matt

Poor Laura Nyro. Poor, poor Laura Nyro. I hope at least Alice Cooper, a big fan of hers, mentions her. At least she got in the songwriter's hall of fame. Still a shame though.

Did Darlene Love even write any of her songs? Nyro wrote all her stuff not including the covers she did. All the original stuff SHE wrote with no songwriters. What a joke this is. Darlene Love over Laura Nyro. Spare me.

Friday 17 December

By Wayne

Another sham on the music industry. These voters know nothing about music. We the people should be the ones that cast the votes.

KISS, and the others mentioned in the snub list should have been inducted a long time ago.

By raidrmik67

The "rock and roll?" Hall of Fame is a total joke. I'm not saying some people don't deserve this honor but SOME people don't.

In the sporting world only the cream of the crop make the HOF meaning you had to be in the top 10 percentile in terms of statistics, longetivity etc.

Just because you had a few obscure hits back in the 60's doesn't mean you deserve a HOF induction. The writers at AOL are clueless as well. Wird Al and Morissey? ROCK AND ROLL?

Just rename it the MUSIC HALL OF FAME!

Tuesday 22 March

By Chris Hernandez

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, not pop, not R&B not adult contemporary. That's what the Grammy's are for. The Hall of Fame was for all the Rock artist that truly made a difference in the history of ROCK and ROLL!

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