Alice Cooper (Alice, Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Glen Buxton) were finally inducted into the 'Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame' by Rob Zombie on March 14th 2011 in a ceremony in New York. The band appeared together on stage and performed 'Eighteen', 'Under My Wheels' and 'School's Out' with Rob Zombie and a group of kids in AC make up appearing. Steve Hunter stood in for Glen Buxton.
They were inducted the first time the induction panel finally decided to put them on the ballot, allowing their peers to vote for them.
On the announcement of their induction Alice told Billboard:
"It did get to be kind of a joke, not being nominated, I got to the point where I was saying, 'OK, I'm the Pete Rose of rock'n'roll!' So now that it's a reality, it's a different take on it. Now I sit there and go, 'Wow. Wow! We've got to really get up and play, and assume the position of being in the Hall of Fame.' It'll be great."
Old information from the archives:
When will Alice be eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame? And will it be just him, or the original group?
Brian Nelson: "Alice's first chance of eligibility was 1994 and he was not nominated. If he is nominated, it would be for all 5 members of the original Alice Cooper band. I'm not holding my breath for Alice Cooper (band) to get in soon."
I will explain a little bit about how one gets into the Hall of Fame for those who care. First, I'm no expert, but this is what I know. Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after their first recording was released under that particular name. For example, David Bowie put out a recording under his original name of David Jones more that 25 years before he was eligible, but was not eligible until 25 years after the first Bowie recording. Alice Cooper was eligible 25 years after 'Pretties For You'. If any of the recordings that The Spiders or The Nazz had done in Phoenix had been done under the name of Alice Cooper, they would have been eligible sooner, as the recording does not have to be on a major label.
Once a year, a committee of around 20-25 people involved in the music business get together for a meeting. They are record company execs, critics, producers, journalists and the ilk. They are given an updated list of artists who have become eligible as well as the artists who have not been inducted yet (as well as artists who will never be inducted). They narrow down the list, discuss and debate the merits of the artists and then vote and narrow the list to a small group of artists - I think it's usually around 15-20(?). These are the nominees.
Then a ballot of this list is sent out to a few thousand or so people (more music biz people-managers, more execs, Dick Clark type people, etc.). These people vote for a certain number of the artists and the votes are counted and you have your inductees.
So, first you have to get nominated. There are some people on the first committee that are very pro-Alice but it could be tough. Bowie has been eligible for a few years now and hasn't gotten in [He has now]. This is a surprise and not a real good sign in that as a general rule, Bowie was always much, much more taken seriously than Alice and has always been the "critic's darling." Before we know it, bands like the NY Dolls, Ramones, Kiss, and the Sex Pistols are going to be eligible [They were] - it's gonna be real hard to justify them being inducted if Alice ain't in first. By the way, you don't have to be in the hall of fame in order to be in the museum.
It's now 2010, and still Alice is snubbed by the institution now commonly referred to as the 'Rock And Roll Hall of Shame' due to glaring omissions from their inductee list. while some acts that have been inducted seem to be simply one hit wonders who influenced no one at all, or ones who simply copied the originators like Alice. In fact this year the halls' head honcho Jan Wenner (of Rolling Stone Magazine) is suggesting that there aren`t enough worthy artists left to induct, and that he might reduce the 25 year eligability rule to 20 to allow more bands to be open for selection. Ridiculous when you look at the artists he won't even put up for nomination.
Alice finally commented in the Halls repeated snubs in the Toledo Blade 13th July 2003:
"Hey, it’s not my problem," he said, cooling down a bit. "Maybe it's exactly right. Maybe Alice should never be in something like that. But it's a mystery to me. Do you know there are people on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame committee who think I am already in? The worst thing about it is that I started before all of them, before the guys who are in there. They used to go to my shows. Even [David] Bowie used to go to our shows. If KISS gets in before me, then I don't want in at all."