The RRHOF Foundation was established in 1983 by Ahmet Ertegun,[2] who assembled a team that included publisher of Rolling Stone magazine Jann S. Wenner; record executives Seymour Stein, Bob Krasnow, and Noreen Woods; and attorneys Allen Grubman and Suzan Evans.

[4] In addition, Cleveland cited radio station WMMS, which played a key role in breaking several major acts in the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s, including David Bowie, who began his first U.S. tour in the city, Bruce Springsteen, Roxy Music, and Rush, among many others.

[10] The 2009 and 2012 induction weeks were made possible by a public–private partnership between the City of Cleveland; the State of Ohio; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; and local foundations, corporations, civic organizations, and individuals.

It also features exhibits on cities that have had a major impact on rock and roll: Memphis, Detroit, London, Liverpool, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle.

This level also includes a gallery with artifact-filled exhibits about Les Paul, Alan Freed, Sam Phillips, and the evolution of audio technology.

[22] The branch museum operated in much the same way as its Cleveland parent, featuring archetypal display pieces like Prince's coat from Purple Rain, David Byrne's "big suit" from Stop Making Sense, and Elvis Presley's motorcycle jacket and Bible.

[22] But from its start, the Annex also had a distinct New York area focus that made plenty of space for big items like the phone booth from CBGB, layered thick with band stickers over the decades; Bruce Springsteen's own 1957 Chevrolet; a special gallery reserved for the city's musicians; and an intricate 26-foot (7.9 m) scale model of Manhattan highlighting sites of rock history.

[23] At its opening night gala, he inadvertently created a controversy after he told a reporter, "One of the small sad things is we didn't do it in New York in the first place.

After it closed in Cleveland, Rock Style traveled to other museums in the U.S. Other temporary exhibits have included Lennon: His Life and Work, which ran from October 20, 2000, to January 1, 2003, followed by In the Name of Love: Two Decades of U2 and Reflections: The Mary Wilson Supreme Legacy Collection.

Over the years, these exhibits have focused on such topics as the Vans Warped Tour, the Concert for Bangladesh, Woodstock's 40th and 50th anniversaries, Austin City Limits, the Monterey International Pop Festival, Roy Orbison, Motown's 50th anniversary, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Marty Stuart, Paul Simon, Graham Nash, John Mellencamp, and Geddy Lee's basses.

This series began in April 1996 and features interviews with Hall of Fame inductees in rare and intimate settings, most often in the Museum's Foster Theater.

Each year, the museum celebrates one of the Hall's inductees with a week-long series of programs that includes interviews, film screenings, and, often, a special exhibit.

Since then, the programs have honored the following inductees: Jimmie Rodgers (1997), Robert Johnson (1998), Louis Jordan (1999), Muddy Waters (2000), Bessie Smith (2001), Hank Williams (2002), Buddy Holly (2003), Lead Belly (2004), Sam Cooke (2005), Roy Orbison (2006), Jerry Lee Lewis (2007), Les Paul (2008),[34] Janis Joplin (2009),[35] Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew (2010), Aretha Franklin (2011),[36] Chuck Berry (2012),[37] The Everly Brothers (2014), and Johnny Cash (2017).

[45] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame celebrated its 25th anniversary with a concert series over two days on October 29 and 30, 2009, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The celebration included performances by Jerry Lee Lewis, U2, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Simon & Garfunkel, Dion DiMucci, Metallica, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Fergie, Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, Ray Davies, Ozzy Osbourne, Paul Simon, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Little Anthony & the Imperials, and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

The first night ran almost six hours, with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band closing the concert with special guests John Fogerty, Darlene Love, Tom Morello, Sam Moore, Jackson Browne, Peter Wolf, and Billy Joel.

[49] The first group of inductees, inducted on January 23, 1986, included Elvis Presley,[50] James Brown, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry,[51] Sam Cooke, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

[52] A nominating committee composed of rock and roll historians selects names for the "Performers" category (singers, vocal groups, bands, and instrumentalists of all kinds), which are then voted on by roughly 500 experts across the world.

The collections also contain important individual items, such as personal letters penned by Aretha Franklin and Madonna, handwritten working lyrics by Jimi Hendrix and LL Cool J, papers from music journalists such as Sue Cassidy Clark, and rare concert recordings from CBGB in the 1970s.

[57][58][59] One of the most common criticisms of the hall of fame is that the nomination process is controlled by a small number of individuals who are not themselves musicians, such as founders Jann Wenner and Suzan Evans, and writer Dave Marsh, reflecting their personal tastes rather than public opinion as a whole.

A former member of the nominations board once commented that "at one point Suzan Evans lamented the choices being made because there weren't enough big names that would sell tickets to the dinner.

"[65] According to Fox News, petitions with tens of thousands of signatures have also been ignored, and some groups that were signed with certain labels or companies or were affiliated with various committee members have even been put up for nomination with no discussion at all.

[66] According to author Brett Milano in 2007, "entire genres get passed over, particularly progressive rock, '60s Top 40, New Orleans funk and a whole lot of black music".

[75] Members of the British punk rock band the Sex Pistols, inducted in 2006, refused to attend the ceremony, calling the museum "a piss stain" and "urine in wine".

[76] In 2018, when British rock band Dire Straits were inducted, bandleader Mark Knopfler did not attend the ceremony and offered no official explanation, leaving bassist John Illsley to say: "He just didn't feel like coming, it's as simple as that.

"[77] In response to Oasis' nomination for the Class of 2024, Liam Gallagher disparaged the hall on X, declaring that "there's something very fishy about those awards", "it's all a load of bollox [sic]", and referring to its members as "bumbaclarts".

[84] At the same ceremony, Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen commented on the hall's ticket policy for inductees and their families as unnecessarily expensive, a sentiment echoed by Miller.

[85][86] In 2018, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden called the hall "an utter and complete load of bollocks ... run by a bunch of sanctimonious bloody Americans who wouldn't know rock 'n' roll if it hit them in the face".

Regarding his band's non-induction into the hall, Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill stated in a 2019 interview, "I don't think they like heavy metal music in general.

In a statement, Parton wrote: "Even though I am extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I don't feel that I have earned that right.