Rock Hall chairman rules out name change, says new categories may be added in the future

John Sykes, president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, said the Hall of Fame is destined to continue to evolve, but while new categories may emerge in the future, coming up with a new name for the institution is out of the question.

Sykes’ comments come in new interview vulturewhich was released on Tuesday (December 31), just one day before the 2024 Rock Hall induction ceremony airs on the streaming service. In the article, Sykes discusses the current state of the foundation and addresses previous calls for a name change, especially given the increasing number of pop and hip-hop artists who have found themselves on board in recent years.

“I think it’s because some people don’t understand what rock music is about,” Sykes explains. “If you go back to the original sound of the ’50s, that was everything. As Missy Elliott said, it was gumbo. It just became known as rock ‘n’ roll. So when I hear people say, ‘You should When it was turned into the Music Hall of Fame, rock music covered almost all of those areas. It does not abandon the name, but better conveys to people the origin and true meaning of rock and roll. Once they hear something like this, they understand.

“The best story to convey this is when a good friend of mine, Jay-Z, came on board a few years ago,” he continued. “I was excited. But he told me, ‘Rock and roll is dead. It should be called the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.’ I said, ‘Well, hip-hop is rock and roll.’ He said, ‘No, it’s not.’ “I said, ‘We’ve got to do a better job of explaining it. Little Richard, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry – these artists are the cornerstone of rock and roll. If you look at the sound over the years, you It turns out these are the artists who ultimately influenced hip-hop. Jay-Z hemmed and hawed, but showed up to the ceremony, which makes me feel like we’ve done our job and sent the message that rock ‘n’ roll is open to everyone.

The comments echoed Sykes’ previous recollections of the discussion, as printed in Jay-Z’s article Book of HOV Just last month.

“My last words as I implored Jay to come to Cleveland to accept his award were that rock ‘n’ roll is not any one sound but a gumbo,” he wrote. “To paraphrase the great Berry Gordy, rock and roll created the sound of young America. It was a spirit, the spirit of hip-hop and rap, that connected rock and roll to a whole new generation.

In his new discussion, Sykes also looked ahead to the future of the Rock Hall and the potential for more new categories. While the annual awards ceremony has always featured the categories Performer, Musical Impact (known as “Early Impact” until 2023) and the Ahmed Ertegun Award (known as “Non-Performer” until 2008), have expanded further in the past.

In 2000, the Rock Hall introduced the accompanist category to honor those who were often overlooked in the grand scheme of things, and the category was renamed the Musical Excellence Awards in 2010. Select songs as singles that shaped rock history. As Sykes explains, it’s possible to dig deeper into the music industry to honor those who push it forward.

“We talked about how to identify not just the artist, but the people around them who had an impact on rock music. Fans often don’t even know who helped destroy these artists,” he added. “It might be a record label president, it might be a lawyer, it might be an agent. We also want to look at specific songs that changed culture. That might be another category.

At the end of the interview, Sykes also discusses some artists who have been overlooked in previous years, including the B-52s, “Weird Al” Yankovic, the Pixies and the solo career of Phil Collins.

Sykes called Yankovic a “genius” who has not yet come “close” to the vote and expressed confidence that others might one day succeed.

“There was a group of nominees who were passionate about elves,” he said. “The same goes for Warren Zevon, who actually did get on the ballot one year. I’m enthusiastic about Warren and he’s going to be on board. But the Gremlins have a lot of support.