Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s global head of music, has spoken to Music Week about the future of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
The 2021 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony takes place at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday (October 30).
A board member of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Cohen successfully lobbied for one of his ex-Rush management charges, LL Cool J, to be inducted as part of the 2021 class.
Other pioneering artists to make the cut included Tina Turner, Carole King, Jay-Z, Kraftwerk, Gil Scott-Heron, Billy Preston and Foo Fighters in what was trumpeted as “the most diverse list of inductees in the history of the organisation”.
“The future of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame is bright,” insisted Cohen. “It's incredibly well funded. It's incredibly well supported. There's a change in leadership. It was wonderful that Jann Wenner and Ahmet Ertegun, two real important people in my life [were at the helm]. Ahmet was one of my mentors and Jann was the founder. But now John Sykes is running it and is helping bring it along and it's beautiful to watch.
“I'm grateful for the efforts that they're making to bring in new members, more diverse members, people that come from different musical backgrounds. So I think that the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame's future is very bright.”
As a longtime board member of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Cohen also gave his verdict on the future of rock in the streaming era.
”It’s certainly less popular, but that could change tomorrow,” he told Music Week. "I think the pendulum swings in all different directions.”
Cohen presented YouTube Music artist relations manager Sheniece Charway with the Rising Star award at last week’s Women In Music 2021 ceremony.
Subscribers can click here to read our Music Week Interview with Lyor Cohen.
