- The honored groups include the Blue Caps (Gene Vincent), The Comets (Bill Haley) etc
- The backing group failed to get into the Hall of Fame at the same time as their frontman
- The six groups will be inducted April 14 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame annual ceremony
(Rolling Stone) -- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will make up for past oversights at this year's induction ceremony by admitting the backing groups of six first-generation rock stars.
The honored groups include the Blue Caps (Gene Vincent), The Comets (Bill Haley), the Crickets (Buddy Holly), the Famous Flames (James Brown), the Midnighters (Hank Ballard) and the Miracles (Smokey Robinson).
In each of these cases, the backing group failed to get into the Hall of Fame at the same time as their frontman - sometimes causing a great deal of controversy. The Hall of Fame's failure to induct the Miracles along with Smokey Robinson in 1987 caused a particularly large uproar. Hall of Fame rules state that artists are eligible for induction 25 years after their debut release. At the time, Robinson had been a solo artist for only 14 years.
The six groups will be inducted April 14 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's annual ceremony at Cleveland's Public Hall.
"These Inductees are pioneers in the development of the music we call rock and roll," the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's president and CEO Joel Peresman said in a statement. "As part of our mission to recognize the most impactful, innovative and influential artists in rock, the committee brought forth these six groups that belong in the Hall of Fame."
Beastie Boys, Donovan, Guns N' Roses, Laura Nyro, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Small Faces/The Faces, Freddie King, Don Kirshner, Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns are also being inducted at this year's ceremony.
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