Stones join Beatles in first UK Hall of Fame
Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian
As Bono put it, "This would be a great time to settle a few old scores."
But it could get ugly; music fans were yesterday provided with enough fodder for
lively debate when the winners of the first UK Music Hall of Fame awards were
announced last night.
The awards ceremony, held at the Hackney Empire in east London, attracted a
clutch of big names who do not normally muck in together. Madonna, U2 and the
Rolling Stone Ron Wood were among the big names attending.
For Madonna, it seemed to be a matter of asserting the honorary Britishness
she's acquired since moving to England. "If somebody had said when I was a
little girl in the mid West that I would be inducted into the UK music Hall of
Fame I'd have said 'bollocks to that'. It's great to be famous but that doesn't
mean you have something to say."
Meanwhile Robbie Williams, a contentious victor over Nirvana and REM in the
90s section, described the programme, which will be broadcast on Sunday on
Channel 4, as the "surrealest thing I've ever done".
Williams was one of the five artists voted by 1.6 million Channel 4 viewers
as the best of the last 50 years. The others are Michael Jackson, The Rolling
Stones, Queen, and Cliff Richard each representing the best of a decade.
The limo-loads of celebrities who crowded the former Victorian music hall
were marking the inauguration of what organisers hope will rival America's
long-established Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.
But there is very British twist: there is no actual "hall" such as
the one in Cleveland, Ohio, where fans view pop artefacts in a museum setting.
At the moment, the award is simply a televised ceremony that will be aired on
Sunday on Channel 4. Organisers Endemol said that there is a possibility of a
museum being built if the award takes off.
As well as the winners of the vote, there are also five founding members
including Madonna, U2 and the Beatles. Island Records founder Chris Blackwell,
who introduced reggae to Britain, also received a trophy.
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