Rock Hall of Fame replacing live induction ceremony with HBO special

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 7/9/2020, 1:59 p.m.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced Wednesday that it will replace its annual live induction ceremony with …
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on August 30, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio/Credit: Duane Prokop/Getty Images

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) -- The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced Wednesday that it will replace its annual live induction ceremony with an exclusive HBO special honoring this year's inductees.

The event is changing because of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

The program will be available on HBO and to stream on HBO Max at 8 p.m. EST/PST on November 7. HBO is owned by CNN's parent company.

It was announced in March that the ceremony would be postponed due to the pandemic.

This year's show will replace the live 35th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony that was originally scheduled for May 2.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2020 inductee class includes Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., T-Rex, and Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees 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 & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said 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."

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland is now open and will debut its 2020 Inductee exhibit on August 14.

The 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will move to the fall with the 36th ceremony returning to Cleveland.

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