Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney to present at 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony
They'll join Dr Dre, Angela Bassett, Drew Barrymore and Lionel Richie to induct new members
By Jen Thomas
It’s set to be a star-studded line-up of presenters for the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony later this month.
Taylor Swift, Sir Paul McCartney, Dr Dre and Jennifer Hudson are among those presenting an award.
Sir Paul will be inducting Foo Fighters, while Taylor Swift and Jennifer Hudson will induct Carole King.
Dr Dre will induct LL Cool J, Angela Bassett will induct Tina Turner, Drew Barrymore will induct the Go-Gos, and Lionel Richie will induct Clarence Avant.
Gil Scott-Heron, Jay-Z, Kraftwerk and Todd Rundgren are also on the list of inductees previously announced in May.
This year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on October 30 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
There will also be performances from Taylor Swift and Jennifer Hudson to mark King’s induction, and Tina Turner’s songs will be performed by H.E.R., Christina Aguilera, Bryan Adams and Mickey Guyton.
Chairman John Sykes said 2021 has the “most diverse class in the history” of the awards: “It really represents the Hall’s ongoing commitment to honour the artists that have created not only rock and roll, but the sound of youth culture.”
Rungdren revealed earlier this year that he will not be attending the awards in person, and will be performing a concert a few hours away instead.
He told Ultimate Classic Rock: “I have offered to do something live for them from my venue. I will stop my show and acknowledge the award and mostly acknowledge my fans, because it’s for them.”
Rungdren added: “They’re the ones who wanted it. And now they’ve got it. So it’s a celebration for them, not so much for me. I’ve been totally willing to do that. But for me to do something extraordinary for the Hall of Fame would just be hypocritical. You know, I’m too much on the record about my feelings.”
He previously called the ceremony a “scam,” however says he’s tried to keep quiet since so as not to ruin it for others.
“A lot of artists take this seriously. Just because I don’t, doesn’t mean I should try and spoil it for them… I would just like it to elapse without any kind of bad vibes or anything being a result of it. I’d just like it to happen and be over with.”