Humanitarians Enter the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Tonight, five performers and eight non-performers will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (You can catch the ceremonies — and the always amazing all-star jam-session — live on FUSE starting at 8:30 p.m. ET.)

Those performers include ABBA, Genesis, The Hollies, Jimmy Cliff and The Stooges. This event has me curious for a few reasons, not the least of which is that I’m actually going tonight. The same saint who ponied up $25,000 for Constance McMillen’s prom invited me and I couldn’t be more grateful.

OK, on to the curiosity. More than anything, why are they inducting so many people each year?! There are a handful of folks in the Tonic family already inducted, including one of the inspirations behind the company, Chris Blackwell. Peruse the alphabetical listing of prior inductees, however, and it’s hard to imagine how many great acts are left to induct. Performers are eligible 25 years after their first record, so it’s too early for the grunge movement from the early 1990s. Regardless, seems like there wouldn’t be any harm in limiting the number of inductees to three or four. It’s just a matter of time before Nirvana, Pearl Jam and The Red Hot Chili Peppers get the call, but what acts launched between 1985-1990 are that worthy? Maybe it’s just because that was junior high and high school for me that all I remember are hair bands and rock ballads. Fun to reminisce, but Hall of Fame worthy? Eeks.

While thinking about this on the red-eye into NYC, I started researching the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The architect was I. M. Pei, the same genius behind the controversial addition to the Louvre in Paris.  The nonprofit opened in 1995, and according to its site, now contributes over $100 million a year to Cleveland’s local economy. The site FAQ has a very detailed answer on why this museum is in Cleveland. Valid question, I guess (there’s actually a pretty good answer, go check it out), but most Hall of Fames are in random places. The football one is in Canton, Mass. — how much sense does that make?  Leave Cleveland alone.

The museum’s mission “is to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. It carries out this mission both through its operation of a world-class museum that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as its educational programs.” The site has an education section which describes in reasonable detail programs for all age groups inside the classroom, outside the classroom and distance learning.

As for the inductees, here are some interesting ways they’ve given back in their careers, excluding performing for charity benefits, which most artists do. Benny Andersson of ABBA composed a ring tone for the Swedish Red Cross in 2005. Iggy Pop designed a T-shirt for Rock The Vote in 2008, which I found totally cool and slightly ironic since he’s always shirtless. He also recently played at the Tibet House Charity Concert with Patti Smith and Baaba Maal.

Most impressively, Peter Gabriel of Genesis has become as much of a humanitarian as he is an artist. He was awarded the Man of Peace award by Nobel Laureates, and is the founder of Witness, a nonprofit we’ve written about before. Gabriel, alongside Richard Branson, also funded The Elders, which was started by Nelson Mandela to “use their collective skills to catalyze peaceful resolutions to long-standing conflicts, articulate new approaches to global issues that are causing or may later cause immense human suffering, and share wisdom by helping to connect voices all over the world. They will work together over the next several months to consider carefully which specific issues they will confront.”

Some great humanitarians in this crowd — should be a fun night.

ABBA screengrab courtesy official website; Iggy Pop courtesy aleksy.consts via Flickr.