Five musical greats to join Rock Hall of Fame
Jazz great Miles Davis and heavy metal band Black Sabbath are on the list of 2006 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Davis is the first jazzman inducted to the Hall of Fame and Black Sabbath is the first heavy metal band.
New wave band Blondie, British punk band the Sex Pistols and southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd are also to be inducted in a ceremony March 13, 2006, in New York.
The Cleveland-based Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts five to seven new members annually, based on the influence and musical legacy of the performers. Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. A voting committee of rock experts helps pick the nominees.
In addition to the performing artists, a lifetime achievement award will be given to Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, who founded A&M records in Los Angeles in 1962.
Alpert and Moss built one of the most successful independent record labels in the world and signed artists such as Procol Harum, Supertramp, Peter Frampton, the Police, Joe Jackson and John Hiatt.
Inductees into the side-men category will be announced at a later date. This category, introduced in 2000, honours backup musicians, who usually are unknown despite their enormous contribution to rock and roll.
Davis was a trumpet player who put his mark on jazz throughout a six-decade career. Davis was known for his musical experimentation and ability to merge jazz with rock and roll, soul, funk and hip hop.
Black Sabbath were formed in Birmingham in the late 1960s by Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward. They were one of the first heavy metal bands who set the pace for the genre in the 1970s.
Osbourne had asked that Black Sabbath be left off the list of Hall of Fame nominees in 1999, after being passed over year after year. He called the Rock Hall of Fame "irrelevant."
Blondie, fronted by Debbie Harry, emerged in the late '70s from New York City, hitting their height with Heart of Glass in 1979. In addition to Harry, members Clem Burke, Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison, Frank Infante, Chris Stein and Gary Valentine will be honoured.
The Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols helped kick British punk into high gear. The band performed for only two years but their songs were banned by the BBC and caused consternation among a generation of British parents. Members Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) and Sid Vicious will be inducted.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd brought southern rock alive in the 1970s with Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird. Members Bob Burns, Allen Collins, Steve Gaines, Ed King, Billy Powell, Artimus Pyle, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant and Leon Wilkeson are cited for induction.