Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - 2014

Peter Brian Gabriel (February 13, 1950) Chobham, Surrey, England
     (Progressive rock, art rock, experimental rock, worldbeat)

Peter Gabriel is a singer-songwriter, musician and humanitarian activist.  He was the lead vocalist and flautist of the rock band Genesis which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.  His solo career includes his 1986 album, So. It sold five million copies in America with the biggest hit being "Sledgehammer," which won nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards.

Gabriel has won numerous music awards, including three Brit Awards, six Grammy Awards, thirteen MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2007 he was honored as a BMI Icon.  He has received the Man of Peace award from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in 2006, and in 2008, TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people on the world.

Daryl Hall & John Oates - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
     (Pop rock, new wave, blue-eyed soul, soft rock, blues rock)

Daryl Hall and John Oates created a mix of soul and rock. Hall is the lead vocalist and plays a wide range of musical instruments.  Oates plays electric guitar and is the backup singer.  They also write most of the songs they perform.  In 2003, Hall and Oates were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. They have influenced the work of Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake.

 They are best known for their six No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Rich Girl," "Kiss on My List," "Private Eyes," "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)," "Maneater" and "Out of Touch".

KISS - New York City, New York
     (Hard rock, Heavy metal)

KISS is an American rock band well known for their black and white face paint and flamboyant costumes.  They took on comic book-style characters: Starchild (Stanley), The Demon (Simmons), Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley) and Catman (Criss).

During their heyday, mid to late 1970s, their live performances feature fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics.  Kiss has been awarded 28 gold albums and has sold more than 40 million albums in the United States.

Nirvana - Aberdeen, Washington
     (Alternative rock, grunge)

Nirvana was an American rock band formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in 1987. 

In the late 1980s Nirvana was part of the grunge scene.  It released its first album Bleach in 1989.  The band's sound relied on dynamic contrasts, between soft and loud.  Their album, Nevermind, which included "Smells Like Teen Spirit," popularized alternative rock.  The band has sold over 25 million records in the United States and over 75 million records worlwide.

Linda Maria Ronstadt (July 15, 1946) - Tucson, Arizona
     (Rock, rock and roll, folk, country rock, soft rock, jazz, big band, art rock)

Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music singer who has earned 11 Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award and an ALMA Award.  She has also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe award.  She is the only artist to win a Grammy Award in the categories of pop, country, Mexican American and Tropical Latin.

Ronstadt regularly crrossed over to the country chars in the 1970s, which was rare for rock singers.  She had four consecutive platinum albums in the mid 1970s: Heart Like A Wheel (1974), Prisoner In Disguise (1975), Hasten Down The Wind (1976) and Simple Dreams (1977).  She has released over 30 studio albums and 15 compilation or greatest hits albums.  She has since retired from singing when she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in December 2012.

Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam (July 21, 1948) - Marylebone, London, England
     (Folk rock, psychedelic rock, soft rock, pop rock, synthpop, electro, nasheed, hamd)

Cat Stevens (born Steven Dametre Georgiou) is a British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, humanitarian and education philanthropist.  Stevens' albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were triple platinum in the US.  His 1972 album Catch the Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks.  He also earned two ASCAP songwriting awards for "The First cut Is the Deepest."  Some of his other hit songs include, "Father and Son," "Wild World," "Peace Train," "Moonshadow" and "Morning Has Broken."

He converted to Islam in 1977, changed his name to Yusuf and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community.  Yusuf won several peace awards including the 2003 World Award, the 2004 Man for Peace Award and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace.  In 2006 he returned to pop music.