It was announced today that R&B/Soul/Pop legend, Bill Withers died last Monday at the age of 81 due to heart complications.
Born in West Virginia, Withers moved to Los Angeles in 1967 seeking a career in music after a nine-year career in the military. He put out his first album in 1971, which included the hit, “Ain’t No Sunshine”. Later hits in the 1970s and early 1980s would include “Lean on Me”, “Use Me”, “Lovely Day” and “Just the Two of Us”. He would win two Grammys and was chosen for the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, family and fans of Bill Withers.
Didn’t we just write this?
We did, but The Songwriters Hall of Fame has announced that they will be postponing their induction for the Class of 2020 until 2021, specifically on June 10, 2021 in New York City. The announcement came today from SHOF Chairman, Nile Rodgers.
The Class of 2020 comprises Mariah Carey, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (The Eurythmics), The Isley Brothers, Steve Miller, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo (The Neptunes), Rick Nowels, William Stevenson, Paul Williams and Jody Gerson.
It is not known at this time whether there will be an additional class in 2021, or whether that will be cancelled in its own right to focus on this group.
The International Boxing Hall of Fame has announced that the Hall of Game weekend is officially cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It was scheduled for this June.
Rather than simply announce a postponement, they announced that they will be honored at the 2021 induction ceremony. The official plaques will however be at display at the Hall starting in June.
The Class of 2020 is comprised of boxers, Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez, “Sugar” Shane Mosely, Frank Erne, Paddy Ryan, the first female boxing honorees, Barbara Buttrick, Christy Martin, Lucia Rijker. Promoters Low DiBella, Kathy Duva and Dan Goosen as well as journalists Bernard Fernandez and Thomas Hauser were also part of thte class.
There is always Hall of Fame related news when you look hard enough!
With the hope that the Pro Football Hall of Fame Ceremony will go on in August, impending inductee, Jimmy Johnson has given some insight as to his inductor will be.
On Twitter, he was asked if Jerry Jones, his former boss and owner of the Dallas Cowboys would induct him. He responded that the honor will go to Troy Aikman and that Terry Bradshaw will put the jacket on him.
While there remains a rift between Johnson and Jones, there is hope that the Hall of Fame induction of Johnson will lead to a place in the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor. It is worth noting that Tom Landry did not enter the Ring until three years after his Hall of Fame induction.
Hopefully we will find more Hall of Fame related news, and of course, we will be looking!