Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, institution devoted to rock music, located in Cleveland, Ohio. The Hall of Fame honors musicians, producers, executives, disk jockeys, and other figures who have played an important role in shaping rock. The museum documents the history of rock from its roots in blues, gospel, country, and other musical genres. In 1983 a group of recording industry executives established the nonprofit Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation in New York City. The first Hall of Fame honorees, who included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and James Brown, were inducted in 1986. The Hall of Fame continues to be administered from New York City, although the museum in Cleveland houses the permanent Hall of Fame exhibit. Performers become eligible for the Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album, and rock historians and experts select inductees based on the importance of their contribution to rock and roll. A small nominating committee selects nonperformers. Cleveland was selected as the site for the museum because it is the city where disk jockey Alan Freed popularized the term rock and roll in the early 1950s. The facility opened in 1995 in a building designed by Chinese American architect I. M. Pei. The museum's collection includes stage costumes worn by famous musicians, musical instruments, original song and lyric manuscripts, music videos, documentary footage of performances and interviews with musicians, and several music databases that assist visitors in understanding the forces that shaped rock music. Temporary exhibits have documented many different subjects, including the careers of specific artists, the so-called psychedelic era that began in the late 1960s, and rock's early history. The museum will eventually house an archive and research center to benefit researchers and to encourage the serious study of rock music. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.