The first woman and the first country artist will be inducted into the Illinois Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later this year.
Suzy Bogguss, of western Aledo, is a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who had a string of top-10 hits in the 1990s. She’s known for hits like “Drive South” and “Hey Cinderella.”
Bogguss will receive the Founder’s Choice Award at the fourth annual induction award ceremony on Oct. 20 at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet.
Other inductees in the Class of 2024 include Richard Marx, Smashing Pumpkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and Bo Diddley in the Artist/Performer category. Vee-Jay Records will join the Hall of Fame in the Record Label category and Steve Goodman and Willie Dixon will enter as Songwriters.
Bob Stroud will be inducted in the Radio Personality category and Big 10 WCFL enters the Hall of Fame in the Radio Station category.
WGN Radio’s Bob Sirott will return as master of ceremonies.
The Class of 2024 is an excellent representation of the musicianship of Illinois, said Ron Romero, the museum’s executive director and chairman of the board.
Anyone can be nominated by anyone, from anywhere. The nominations are sent to a committee, which verifies that the nominees meet the criteria. The musicians have to have a significant tie to Illinois and had an active career for at least 20 years with significant sales and touring.
“That doesn’t keep people from nominating their friend’s band, so we have to weed out some of that,” he said.
Hall of Fame votes are cast by the museum’s charter members. The nominees with the most votes — as well as those who have the availability to be at the ceremony and possibly perform — are picked for induction.
“The ace up my sleeve is that each year I pick somebody as the founder that I think should be in there but maybe didn’t make the count, but I feel is very significant to music in Illinois,” he said. “It’s a long process from there to put it together. It’s a lot of calls to management, it’s a lot of calls to artists, planning with the Rialto, writing scripts. We do write the scripts for the inductors.”
And sometimes emergencies happen — disc jockey John Landecker had a flat tire on the way to the ceremony last year.
As for Bogguss, if you’re wondering why a country artist is being inducted into the Illinois Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, “we feel music is all related,” Romero said.
“We honor and promote music from all genres from Illinois,” he said. “Rock ‘n’ roll is also term a people use, like ‘Come on, let’s rock ‘n’ roll.’ There’s a little more sizzle in that than just the Illinois Music Museum.”
While a lot of women fit the criteria, there’s something special about Bogguss being the first country artist as well, he said.
“She went to ISU in Normal — she’s a Redbird,” he said. Bogguss earned her bachelor’s degree in metalsmithing. “She’s won many awards and she’s still performing.”
Bogguss had a track on the Grammy-winning Best Traditional Folk Album “Beautiful Dreamer” in 2005. She released her 17th studio album, “Prayin’ for Sunshine,” in November 2023, which she was credited as a writer on all of the songs.
“We’re excited to have her in,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of women in rock ‘n’ roll and music in general from Illinois, so I anticipate there will be a lot more coming.”
While Bogguss and Richard Marx are slated to attend the ceremony, the question begs — will the Smashing Pumpkins come to the Rialto in October?
“Well, don’t underestimate,” Romero said. “It’s in negotiations. It takes a long time to put this together. Their management said that they don’t know if they’ll get the whole band there, but they’re trying to get a couple of the guys there. We’re working on that. So don’t be surprised if we do get somebody there.”
Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin hails from Joliet.
Also slated to attend are the families of Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and Willie Dixon, all three “very important blues artists,” he said.
Keep an eye on the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 website and social media pages for updates about the upcoming induction ceremony.
The museum is located at 9 W. Cass St. in downtown Joliet.
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Illinois Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
When: 6 p.m. Oct. 20
Where: Rialto Square Theatre, 102 N. Chicago St., Joliet
Tickets: $49-$69
Information: 815-927-1540; RoadToRock.org
