Cher is apparently backtracking on comments she made previously, now that it’s been announced that she would be among the 2024 inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
During an appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in December to promote her then-new Christmas single, “DJ Play a Christmas Song,” the singer noted how she had been snubbed even though her seven-decade-long career was packed with consistent, chart-topping hits. While Cher acknowledged that the Rolling Stones shared similar accolades, she was also quick to jest at how “It took four of them to be one of me.”
“You know what, I wouldn’t be in it now if they gave me a million dollars,” Cher told Clarkson at the time of the Cleveland, Ohio, institution. “I’m never going to change my mind. They can just go you-know-what themselves.”
As of Sunday, however, Cher’s name has been added to a long list of musical greats in being entered into the hall on Oct. 19. Among the other inductees for the performer category are Mary J. Blige, the Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne and A Tribe Called Quest.
“Rock & Roll is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds that impacts culture and moves generations,” said John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, in a press release. “This diverse group of inductees each broke down musical barriers and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”
Eligibility is predicated on an artist or band having released its first commercial recording at least 25 years before the nomination, the release stipulated. Of the inductees in the performer category, Cher, Foreigner, Kool & the Gang and Peter Frampton were on the ballot for the first time.