Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 holding first induction March 29

The fledgling Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 in Joliet, Illinois, will hold its first induction class on March 29 at the Renaissance Center Ballroom in Joliet.

If you want to vote on who goes into the Hall of Fame this year, you’ll have to become a charter member by enrolling here for $35 and cast your ballot by Valentine’s Day, according to WJOL radio.

The performer nominees that have the required ties to Illinois are Chicago, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, Earth Wind & Fire, The Buckinghams, Smashing Pumpkins, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Chuck Berry, Rufus with Chaka Khan, Dan Fogelberg, Eddie Vedder, John Prine, Lionel Ritchie, New Colony 6, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Ides of March and Survivor. Voters are allowed to pick three.

The radio station nominees are WLS and WXRT. The non-performer nominees are Chess Records and Vee-Jay Records. Club nominees are Thirsty Whale and Haymakers. Disc jockey nominees are Larry Lujack or Steve Dahl. Voters can pick only one of each.

This video provides a visual tour of the Hall of Fame site:

The first floor of the three-story Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 on Cass Street in Joliet is slated to open by summer or fall.

The station reported:

The building is undergoing a renovation and will include exhibit space, a performance music hall and the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 Music Hall of Fame, gift shop, and it is the home of our Road To Rock Radio online streaming radio station. […]
Audio and visual presentations of performances and artist interviews will capture their unique contributions to rock and roll. Visitors to the proposed exhibit will take a musical journey from the early jazz and blues influences to the birth and rise of rock and roll, and the emergence of Illinois artists whose influences have had significant impact.

About a year ago, the museum’s organizers bought the 1920s building at 9 W. Cass St. in Joliet, which sits between the northbound and southbound lanes of Illinois 53, aka Route 66.

It’s down the block from the Joliet Area Historical Museum and next to Juliet’s Italian Restaurant. It also is across the street from The Forge, a popular nightclub.

(Artist’s rendering of the front of the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 via Facebook)

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