At the 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, held Saturday, October 30, 2021, German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk were officially inducted.
The inductees for the band are the classic lineup of Karl Bartos, Wolfgang Flür, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider.
“The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is a very special place,” noted Pharrell in his induction speech. “But I’m going to suggest that we create a new hall within the hall, reserved for artists who actually invented their genre, because Kraftwerk belongs there.”
Pharrell’s speech was followed by a video tribute from several artists, including Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, the Human League’s Philip Oakey and Run-DMC’s Darryl McDaniels.
Other inductees include Tina Turner, The Go-Go’s, Foo Fighters, Todd Rundgren, Billy Preston and others. To be eligible, artists are required to have released their first record 25 years prior to induction.
All the love to Kraftwerk, but this honor seems kinda meh. When Dylan was given the Nobel, Leonard Cohen said it was like pinning a blue ribbon on Mt. Everest for being the tallest mountain. Given the size of Kraftwerk’s legacy at this point, this event seems to carry the same level of significance.
they are showroom dummies
This was LONG overdue. As Pharrell put it, “…actually invented their genre…” That they did.
Seeing how the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was created in 1983, maybe Kraftwerk can recognize them as an honorary society worthy of bestowing honors upon musical pioneers predating them. And seeing how Rock and Roll is pretty much dead, maybe they should rename it to the Millenium Hall of Fame or something more universal.
Rock ‘n’ Roll will never die…
It’s about time!!! Way overdue!!! Glad to hear this!,,
Why don’t they change the name to “Music Hall of Fame” or something similar? I’m not saying that is not deserved, but that ain’t Rock at all.
I’ve always thought this, “Rock & Roll” is just cheesy
Rock ‘n Roll Hall of What? Booo! Let’s not give a crock about a genre and a culture that smells outdated like a rotting corpse.
Kraftwerk should’ve declined for this ‘honor’… They’re NOT rockmusic but popmusic: …heimatklängen, as they themselves described it.
Yea! They finally made it!
Their last good album was in 1981 – yesterday’s news, which this award tends to prove
Minimum Maximum (2005)
Excellent remakes of some the better known tunes from their back catalogue
They did a lot of awesome live shows with these modern versions too
Don’t focus on the award. Praise the band
1 of them is dead, 2 of them have left/sacked. That particular configuration of members is the ‘classic’ Kraftwerk, So who is the current ‘Kraftwerk’? They are not them, and he is not what he used to be. Didn’t the cover artist appear as a member in the early days? The group as a static entity is an interesting illusion.
I’m sure they were overwhelmed.
I’m shure they laughed about this honor …
Kling Klang
Bleep bloop!
Now we have Kraftwerk, can Basic Channel be the next inductee?
pop-musik ja