Uncovering the Next Generation's Hall of Fame
The Mysterious Induction of Kenny Laguna
It wasn’t just the plaque that was wrong, the Rock Hall’s website never included Laguna as an inductee until sometime last year. The official program from the 2015 induction ceremony didn’t illustrate Laguna among the inductees either.
Contemporaneous reporting around the 2015 induction ceremony never mentioned Laguna as an inductee, and clearly stated which Blackhearts were included. Cleveland.com even speculated that Laguna might be the presenter for Joan Jett.
You know who did know he was being inducted? Kenny Laguna knew. At the induction ceremony, Laguna gave an acceptance speech (even thanking “advocate” Steven Van Zandt).
Why didn’t anyone else seem to know that Kenny Laguna was actually inducted for over three years?
The first evidence on the internet of his induction seems to be on his Wikipedia page, which was updated about three months after the ceremony (the citation referenced for this fact includes a list of eleven Blackhearts, most of whom weren’t inducted). Other than that, there are very few mentions of his induction until last year, when there was some press surrounding the Bad Reputation documentary.
So, a few questions:
- If Laguna was in fact inducted in 2015, why didn’t the press know about it at the time?
- Why wasn’t he listed on the Rock Hall’s website or on the museum plaque for over three years?
- Does the Rock Hall plan to make any other retroactive changes to the inductees?
- Are there other instances of quietly adding or removing inductees?
- Is the canonical list of inductees maintained by the Rock Hall Museum or Foundation? Can it be published?
- Are there any other inductees who are not listed on the signature plaques at the Museum?
This is all so weird and stupid. How does this keep happening?
