Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony Canceled, Will Be Replaced by HBO Special
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The 35th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be replaced with an exclusive HBO special due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it was announced today. It is the first time in history that the ceremony has had to be canceled.
Earlier this year, Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, the Notorious B.I.G. and T. Rex were announced as the hall’s 2020 inductees. The Ahmet Ertegun Award recipients were executive Irving Azoff and Bruce Springsteen’s manager, Jon Landau.
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The program will be available on HBO and to stream on HBO Max Saturday, November 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will replace the live ceremony that was originally scheduled for May 2.
In a statement released by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, John Sykes, chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said, “To protect the health and safety of our Inductees, their families, crews and our attendees, we’ve made the decision that the scheduled live event is not possible. Together with HBO and executive producer Joel Gallen, we will still create an exciting program honoring our 2020 inductees, by telling the stories of their incredible contributions to music and impact on a generation of artists that followed them.”
There is no word about what the special will include. Those who bought tickets to the ceremony will automatically get a refund. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will debut its 2020 inductee exhibit on August 14, and the 2021 induction ceremony will move to the fall and mark a return to Cleveland.
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