Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame To Hold Virtual Induction Ceremony On HBO
The program will air on HBO and HBO Max and will celebrate the 2020 inductees including Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., T-Rex, and more.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced today they will be canceling their live induction ceremony this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and will honor the 2020 class with an HBO special instead on Saturday, November 7th.
The program will air on HBO and HBO Max and will celebrate the 2020 inductees including Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., T-Rex, and Ahmet Ertegun Award recipients Jon Landau and Irving Azoff.
“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,” John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, says in a statement. “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.”
Due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns, the live 2020 HOF Induction Ceremony concert on 11/7 is cancelled. In place of the live event, we’ll broadcast an exclusive special about the #RockHall2020 Inductees on @HBO & HBO Max November 7, 2020 at 8pm. More details: https://t.co/BEun54az4b pic.twitter.com/6qGPq3g9rw
— Rock Hall (@rockhall) July 8, 2020
The annual spring induction ceremony was originally scheduled to take place Cleveland’s Public Hall on May 2 but was pushed back to November 7 due to the coronavirus. Even without an audience, the organizers decided it would be a difficult event to stage due to the current conditions in the US. Anyone who had previously bought a ticket will be getting a full refund, the Rock Hall confirmed.
This marks the first time in the Rock Hall’s history that the artists will be inducted without a public ceremony. With the future of concerts and award shows in 2020 still uncertain, organizers have been forced to get creative, as virtual events become increasingly more frequent.
Most recently, the 2020 BET Awards proved a virtual event could be equally compelling, while some shows have decided to still go forward with in-person events like the MTV Video Music Awards. The show is proceeding with a live event at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on August 30th, although New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says it will take place with “limited or no audience.”
Visit the official Rock Hall site for more details on the November show.
