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R.E.M. Headed to Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

R.E.M. will be one of five artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a ceremony on March 12th in New York City at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The band will be inducted along with Patti Smith, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Ronettes, and Van Halen. The five inductees were chosen by the 600 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation from a pool of nine nominees which also included Chic, the Dave Clark Five, The Stooges, and Joe Tex. Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Hall 25 years after the release of their first recording. R.E.M., eligible in its first year of nomination, released "Radio Free Europe" on Hib-Tone Records in July 1981.

"Our strength seems to be looking forward...(to) the next song or the next record or the next video and the next tour and trying to continue doing good and sometimes great work," Michael Stipe told Billboard.com from London, where he, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and manager Bertis Downs were meeting to talk about plans for R.E.M.'s next album. "So it's really an honor that someone took the time to look backward and to kind of recognize what we've done in our past, 'cause we're really crappy at it."

In addition to being honored at the ceremony on March 12, 2007, each artist who is inducted is commemorated within the I.M. Pei-designed museum in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame displays the signature of each inductee inscribed in glass. In addition, there is an exhibit of artifacts from this year's inductees, and a multi-media film presentation with highlights from each artist's career. The exhibit on this year's inductees will open in March, 2007 and will run for one year.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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