Free Republic

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is in Cleveland thanks in large part to Alan Freed. But Freed is no longer welcome in the Rock Hall, according to his son, Lance Freed. Lance Freed says he was told several months ago by Rock Hall President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Harris that he would have to "immediately" remove his father's ashes, which had been on display since 2002, from the building. "He said, 'look Lance, there's something strange, people walk past the exhibit and your dad's ashes and they scratch their heads and can't figure out what...

Enough of this arguing over who deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's time to look at those already inducted and issue some indictments. Darwin would call it thinning the herd. You could also call it correcting un-natural selection -- as in, evicting those acts and artists undeserving of being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It'€™s time to vote people OUT of the Rock Hall. Feel free to choose from the following list of 15 names -- or add your own. It's time to storm the Bastille, er, I mean, that glass...

If you look beyond the headlines that greeted this week's announcement of 16 nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — Nirvana, a foregone conclusion for first-round induction; KISS, long snubbed, getting its second shot at glory — you might notice that two Rock Hall records were quietly set. They tell you all you need to know about how this mysterious institution works. The first involves '70s–'80s disco/R&B pioneer Chic. With this nomination, its eighth, Chic holds the current record for the most nominations for the Rock Hall without getting inducted. (The all-time record is still held by...

Rush, Public Enemy among Rock Hall of Fame noms By CHRIS TALBOTT, AP Music Writer – 6 minutes ago Rush, Deep Purple, Public Enemy and N.W.A. are among the group of first-time nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They join returnees Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Randy Newman, Donna Summer and Kraftwerk among the 15 artists vying for entry. Even in the iPod age, the list of nominees up for induction in 2013 is as eclectic as they come. Nominees differ wildly in sound, origin and influence, ranging from the enduring prog rock of Canadian trio...

The Stooges, Genesis, ABBA, the Hollies and Jimmy Cliff will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the shrine's 25th annual ceremony on March 15 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. They'll be joined by David Geffen and a cadre of songwriters -- Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry, Jesse Stone, Mort Shuman and Otis Blackwell -- who will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Fuse TV. Surprisingly not making the cut were KISS and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who...

Janis Joplin has an indelible image as a swaggering, boozing rock 'n' roll mama whose blues-based music was a raw outpouring of her angst. The 1979 Bette Midler film The Rose, which depicts a Joplin-like singer, strengthened that view. Very likely it's why a lengthy list of actresses — including Renee Zellweger, Brittany Murphy, Pink, Lili Taylor, Zooey Deschanel and Vanessa Hudgens (!) — have expressed interest in playing her onscreen. But it's an image that Lauren Onkey and Mary Davis hope to dispel, or at least replace with a new respect for her key role in the crossbreeding of...