This year's inductees include Alice Cooper, one of the most influential artists in hard rock, metal, punk and glam. Alice will be inducted by Rob Zombie, who is a good choice (alternatively, I would have thought Lady Gaga would have made a weird bit of sense, but she would have taken attention away from the entire ceremony). Last year, I listed Alice (and that's the Alice Cooper Band, not just the singer) as one of the artists who should be inducted this year, and I'm glad it happened. See my beginner's guide to Alice here, and stay tuned for a guest post from an Alice fan... well, he's not just a "fan," his entire life was changed by Alice Cooper.
Tom Waits, who brings the essential element of "weird" to rock and roll. He is sort of a "left-field" pick, but no more so than Leonard Cohen or The Velvet Underground or Frank Zappa. Like Alice, Tom Waits is someone I really hoped would get in this year. Neil Young is going to do the speech about Tom. You know I'm a huge Neil fan, but that honor should have gone to Primus, in my opinion. See my beginner's guide here, and stay tuned for a testimonial from a friend of mine.
Dr. John, representing New Orleans, and rocking piano players. Beginner's guide and testimonial coming up. John Legend is doing the honors: I am a fan of John's, and I'm sure he'll do a great speech. I would have gone for one of his peers, like Bonnie Raitt or Jimmie Vaughan.
Darlene Love, one of the great unsung singers! I know Little Steven campaigned for her, but Bette Midler is doing the honors. I'm sure that will be a phenomenal speech! See my very simple beginner's guide here, and get ready for a short, sweet, rock star guest post about Darlene.
Neil Diamond, who I have said I don't think belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Songwriters Hall of Fame? No question. I just don't see him as rock and roll. I have written about the guy and given him credit, so there's no hate there. Paul Simon handles that speech. My friend, musician/filmmaker/media executive Benjamin Wagner, will be writing a guest post on what makes Neil great.
And finally, Leon Russell, who is getting the Award for Recording Excellence (which replaces the Sideman category). Obviously, Elton John is speaking about him (by the way, Elton guest hosts Saturday Night Live April 2, and is the musical guest along with Leon).
Next week on Larry's show, I'll discuss who I think deserves to be inducted in 2012.
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