ABBA, MICHAEL JACKSON,
BILLY JOEL AMONG 2017 POP MUSIC HALL OF FAME NOMINEES
~ John Denver, Aretha
Franklin, Earth, Wind & Fire also first-time candidates
On-line voting to
begin November 2
ABBA, Michael Jackson
and Billy Joel are among twelve first-time nominees for 2017 induction into
America’s Pop Music Hall of Fame.
They join eight returning
acts to comprise the twenty artists on the ballot. Nominees, representing pop music
through 1979, are selected by a national panel of musicians, disc jockeys and
journalists based on the artists’ breadth and depth of pop hits, as well as
influence.
Through on-line voting,
the public will choose ten inductees; the national selection committee will add
up to five other “Heritage” inductees.
New nominees, in
addition to ABBA, Michael Jackson and Billy Joel are John Denver, Earth, Wind
& Fire, the Fifth Dimension, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Herman’s Hermits,
Tony Orlando & Dawn, Johnny Rivers and Diana Ross.
The eight returning
nominees are Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Lou Christie, the Dave Clark
Five, Petula Clark, the Four Tops, the Jackson Five, Tommy James & the
Shondells and Rod Stewart. Artists must have placed a hit on the Billboard
charts between 1945 and 1979 to qualify.
America’s Pop Music
Hall of Fame was formed in 2011 to honor artists and other contributors to pop
music. It is based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, home of Perry Como, Bobby Vinton
and the Four Coins, who together placed nearly 200 songs on America’s pop
charts.
Plans are continuing
for construction of a four-story, hall of fame structure that includes a large
performance center, as well as wings for both permanent and rotating collections
and memorabilia.
Prior
Inductees
In a ceremony March 15,
2013, with Johnny Tillotson as master of ceremonies, the original inductees into
America’s Pop Music Hall of Fame were announced. They were the Beach Boys, the
Beatles, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Bobby Darin, Neil
Diamond, Brenda Lee, Johnny Mathis, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Vinton
and Stevie Wonder.
2014
- The Bee Gees, Tony Bennett, Carpenters, Chicago, Buddy Holly, Elton John,
Carole King, Dean Martin, the Monkees, Roy Orbison, Patti Page, the Platters,
Simon & Garfunkel and the Supremes. The Monkees were formally inducted
during a standing-room only presentation at the Monkees Convention in East
Rutherford, N.J. on March 17, 2014.
2015
- Paul Anka, Glen Campbell, Chubby Checker, the Eagles, the
Everly Brothers, the Four Seasons, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, Rick Nelson, the
Righteous Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Tillotson, and Andy Williams. The
“Heritage” inductees were Les Paul and Mary Ford.
2016 -
The Association, Dion and the Belmonts, the Grass Roots, the
Lettermen, Barry Manilow, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Neil Sedaka, Barbra
Streisand, the Temptations and Three Dog . The “Heritage” inductees were Louis
Armstrong, Bing Crosby, the Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers
In
Brief:
2017 Nominees:
ABBA, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Lou Christie, the
Dave Clark Five, Petula Clark, John Denver, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Fifth
Dimension, the Four Tops, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Herman’s Hermits,
Michael Jackson, the Jackson Five, Tommy James & the Shondells, Billy Joel,
Tony Orlando & Dawn, Johnny Rivers, Diana Ross and Rod Stewart.
Inductees Announced:
January 1, 2017
