Grammy Hall Of Fame Adds Springsteen, Beastie Boys & Pearl Jam Debuts, Songs Including ‘Y.M.C.A.’, ‘We Are The World’, ‘The Gambler’

Erik Pedersen
·3 min read
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The Recording Academy knows when to hold ’em, where it’s fun to stay and that there’s a choice we’re making. Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler,” Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” and USA for Africa’s benefit single “We Are the World” are among the 29 songs and albums added to the Grammy Hall of Fame today.

Also making the cut are seven debut LPs: Bruce Springsteen’s Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., Pearl Jam’s Ten, Patti Smith’s Horses, Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill — the first rap disc to top Billboard 200 album chart — the Cars’ eponymous disc, John Mayall with Eric Clapton’s Blues Breakers and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s Texas Flood.

The Gammy Hall now includes 1,142 recordings. See this year’s full list below.

“We are proud to announce this year’s diverse roster of Grammy Hall of Fame inductees and to recognize recordings that have shaped our industry and inspires music makers of tomorrow,” Harvey Mason Jr., chair and interim president/CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Each recording has had a significant impact on our culture, and it is an honor to add them to our distinguished catalog.”

This year’s list also features Billie Holiday’s “Solitude”, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” and albums by Isaac Hayes (Hot Buttered Soul), Joe Cocker (Mad Dogs & Englishmen), Peter Gabriel (So), Dr. John (In the Right Place), A Tribe Called Qwest (The Low End Theory) and Linda Ronstadt (Canciones de Mi Padre).

Ronstadt scored a double from the Recording Academy today. Along with her Spanish-language disc, she also was recognized for Trio, the country album she made with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Like Canciones de Mi Padre, it was released in 1987.

Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie’s “When the Levee Breaks” and Vernon Dalhart’s “Wreck of the Old 97” — the original versions of songs made famous by Led Zeppelin and Johnny Cash and others, respectively — also made this year’s cut.

Here is the full list of 2021 Grammy Hall of Fame inductees:

“Au Clair de la Lune,” Edouard-Leon Scott De Martinville, single (c. 1853-61)
“Blues Breakers,” John Mayall with Eric Clapton, album (1966)
“Canciones de Mi Padre,” Linda Ronstadt, album (1987)
“Clean Up Woman,” Betty Wright, single (1971)
“Copenhagen,” Fletcher Henderson And His Orchestra, single (1924)
“Don’t Stop Believin’,” Journey, single (1981)
“Freight Train,” Elizabeth Cotton, single (1958)
“Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.,” Bruce Springsteen, album (1973)
“Horses,” Patti Smith, album (1975)
“Hot Buttered Soul,” Isaac Hayes, album (1969)
“In the Right Place,” Dr. John, album (1973)
“Licensed to Ill,” Beastie Boys, album (1986)
“Mad Dogs & Englishmen,” Joe Cocker, album (1970)
“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at ‘The Club’,” The Cannonball Adderley Quintet, album (1966)
“Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major,” Leonard Bernstein with the Philharmonia Orchestra Of London, album (1948)
“Schoenberg: The Four String Quartets,” Kolisch String Quartet, album (1937)
“So,” Peter Gabriel, album (1986)
“Solitude,” Billie Holiday, single (1952)
“Ten,” Pearl Jam, album (1991)
“Texas Flood,” Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble, album (1983)
“The Cars,” The Cars, album (1978)
“The Gambler,” Kenny Rogers, single (1978)
“The Low End Theory,” A Tribe Called Quest, album (1991)
“Time Is On My Side,” Irma Thomas, single (1964)
“Trio,” Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, album (1987)
“We Are The World,” USA For Africa, single (1985)
“When the Levee Breaks,” Kansas Joe And Memphis Minnie, single (1929)
“Wreck of the Old 97,” Vernon Dalhart, single (1924)
“Y.M.C.A.,” Village People, single (1978)

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