Inductees

2020

American Band	Hal Crook	Joe Doyle	Scott Hamilton
The American Band of Providence, incorporated in 1837 and still performing, is considered one of the best brass bands in the world. View Info	For six decades, the Cranston trombonist has enjoyed acclaim and success as both a performer and an educator. View Info	The East Providence musician and Berklee grad found extraordinary success as a songwriter after relocating to Nashville in the 1980s. View Info	The Providence native has achieved worldwide acclaim and success as one of the finest saxophonists in the history of jazz. View Info
2019

John Campbell	Alan Fox	Claudia Lennear	Phil Madeira
After several decades focusing on instrumental music, Jon Campbell, of Peace Dale, began making up songs on an irregular basis. View Info	Pianist, singer, composer and music educator co-founded and was director of The Music School, Inc. View Info	One of the most successful backing vocalists in history. Since the late 60s has backed some of the more prominent musicians and important musical events. View Info	Musician, songwriter and producer established himself in the early 80s as a first-call keyboardist on stage and in the studio, and songwriter. View Info

Neal & the Vipers	Rico Turchetti
Performing hard-driving blues-roots materials since the early 1980s. View Info	In 1940, he invented the pedal steel guitar when he asked Joe Petteruti to help him attach a foot pedal to the top string on his guitar which would allow him to raise the pitch. View Info
2018

David Blue	John Chan	Tom Ghent	Lloyd Kaplan
The Pawtucket musician and his peers Bob Dylan, Eric Andersen and Leonard Cohen helped to move folk music into the modern singer-songwriter era. View Info	The Woonsocket impresario has devoted 40+ years to presenting roots music and was instrumental in helping to launch the careers of many internationally known Rhode Island musicians. View Info	The Rhode Island native launched his career in Greenwich Village at the height of the early ‘60s folk boom and became a hit songwriter and session musician in Nashville in the 1970’s. View Info	In the mid-1960s, the music educator and jazz musician was instrumental in shaping the the future of the music department at CCRI where he remained for 31 years teaching and mentoring hundreds of student. View Info

James Montgomery	Paul Murphy	Polin, Morrissey, Bennett	Mike Renzi
After launching his career from Boston in the early 1970s, the bluesman moved to Rhode Island and continued his international career and philanthropic efforts for the benefit of musicians and veterans groups. View Info	The Pawtucket guitarist, who was a jack-of-all-trades as well as a master-of-all, made his mark as sideman recording and touring with three of Rhode Island’s biggest music stars: Greg Abate, James Montgomery and Duke Robillard. View Info	In 1972, Polin & Morrissey launched Polico Lighting, RI’s first stage lighting & design co., achieving national prominence with Boston & J. Geils. Morrissey, a noted hilanthropist, continues their work with East Coast Lighting. Early hire LeRoy Bennet achieved international fame with Prince, McCartney and the Grammys. View Info	The Providence musician achieved international success: as a jazz pianist, a vocal accompanist for some of the finest singers of the 20th century including Lena Horne and Tony Bennett, and a TV and film composer with 7 Emmys. View Info
2017

Artie Cabral	Phil Greene	Dan Moretti	Neutral Nation
World-renowned jazz drummer and dedicated music educator. View Info	World-class player in both jazz and R&B whose career included producing, engineering and teaching. View Info	By the time Some Time Inside, his first album as a leader, was picked up by Blackhawk Records for international release in 1985, saxophonist Dan Moretti of Narragansett had already established himself as a world-class player in both Jazz and R&B. View Info	Inspired by ’70s punk, the newly emerging DIY scene and kids starting their own bands they thought, “Why not us? View Info

Billy Osborne	Plan 9	Frank Potenza	Rizzz
Had a significant impact on the heart of modern jazz scene as a performer, producer, and right hand man to Ray Charles. View Info	Established as pioneers of Neo-Psychedelia and forerunners of the Paisley Underground. View Info	Launched parallel careers as a performer and an educator appearing regularly with the area’s top jazz and blues artists and teaching at the Rhode Island School of Music. View Info	Rizzz’s no compromise approach became a template for the exploding R.I. original music scene of the 1980s and their influence is still felt 35 years after they disbanded. View Info

Throwing Muses	Wild Turkey Band/Hometown Rockers
Considered pioneers – and their recordings milestones – in the development of the genre which became known as alternative rock. View Info	Influenced countless musicians as pioneers in the musical genres which are now called Jam Band Music and Americana. View Info
2016

Greg Abate	Frankie Carle	Bill Harley	Carl Henry
Greg Abate is one of the best-selling and successful jazz musicians in Rhode Island music history. View Info	Frankie Carle, the “Wizard of the Keyboard,” enjoyed an international career which spanned seven decades. View Info	Bill Harley is one of the most successful children’s music artists of all time and a two-time Grammy Winner. View Info	Disc Jockey Carl Henry, the “Alan Freed” of Rhode Island, introduced R&B and Rock ’n’ Roll to R.I.’s teens in the 1950s. View Info

Carol Sloane	Sugar Ray & the Bluetones	Richard Walton	Rudy Cheeks, Young Adults, Fabulous Motels
Jazz vocalist Carol Sloane’s appearance at the 1961 Newport Jazz Festival introduced her to an international audience. View Info	Blues artists Sugar Ray & The Bluetones are one of the most highly-praised and successful blues acts of the modern era. View Info	Writer/teacher Richard Walton recognized the connection between music and activism and helped build a national community of like-minded artists. View Info	The Young Adults were one of the most successful and influential acts on the Rhode Island original music scene of the 1980s. View Info
2015

The Ascots	Marty Ballou	Duke Belaire	Brenda Bennett
While students at Barrington High School in the mid-1960s, the band scored a major hit with “Midnight Hour” which sold thousands throughout New England. View Info	Best-described as Southern New England’s “first-call” bassist. Highly regarded nationally for his work in the jazz and blues fields, and all genres. View Info	After touring with name bands and drumming with the house band at The Celebrity Club, he formed his own orchestra in 1967 and is credited with keeping the big band sound alive. View Info	Featured vocalist & songwriter with both of Prince’s girl group projects, and appeared in “Purple Rain.” After a two-decade layoff, she returned to the scene with her first solo album in 2011. View Info

Nelson Eddy	Georgie Porgie & the Crybabies	George Masso	The Others
One of our country’s finest singer, over the course of his 40-year career, he enjoyed unparalleled international success singing and acting on stage, screen, radio and TV. View Info	Georgie Porgie & the Crybabies The band George Leonard formed with his sisters became a fixture on the thriving 1960s discotheque scene in Manhattan which led to two national releases for Jubilee Records. View Info	During his 7 decade career, George has excelled in every area of the music business – trombonist, pianist, composer, arranger, educator – recording dozens of albums as leader and sideman. View Info	From 1964 to 1968, this group of college students became one of the top bands in the Northeast, released three records for two major labels, and still managed to stay in school View Info

Bob Petteruti	Marty Richards	Schemers	George Wein
The “dean” of Rhode Island bass players. Some of the musicians he backed at The Celebrity Club and The Kings & Queens: Roy Eldridge, Bobby Hackett and Ben Webster with whom he recorded 2 albums. View Info	His innate sense of swing and unerring sense of time have graced dozens of recordings and thousands of stages supporting performers comprising a “who’s who” of American pop music. View Info	Mark Cutler’s Schemers were at the top of the R.I. original music scene for nearly a decade, but a record deal eluded them. His Raindogs project found major label success with 2 albums for Atco. View Info	Began presenting the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954 and followed with the Newport Folk Festival in 1959. They became annual traditions and he is credited with putting Rhode Island on the map as an entertainment and cultural destination for international travelers. View Info

Paco Zimmer
Reached the highest levels of the entertainment business providing career and financial guidance for superstars including The Who, Kiss and the Allman Brothers. Always a staunch supporter of local music, he created Center Stage, the showcase club in East Providence. View Info
2014

Castaleers	Paul Gonsalves	Randy Hien	Francis Madeira
Rhode Island’s pioneering R&B Vocal Group of the 1950s. View Info	The Pawtucket saxophonist was Duke Ellington’s right-hand man and was a pivotal figure in the development of modern jazz. View Info	He jump-started Rhode Island’s original music scene by encouraging bands to perform their own material. View Info	He built the Rhode Island Philharmonic from the ground up into a world-class symphony orchestra. View Info

Mark II	Duke Robillard	Freddie Scott	Tavares
They wrote and recorded “Night Theme,” the only international hit by a Rhode Island record company. View Info	After founding Roomful of Blues, he launched a solo career and became recognized as one of the all-time great blues guitarists. View Info	This legendary soul giant began his career singing with his grandmother’s Providence-based gospel group. View Info	The seven sons of Flash Tavares began their climb to the top in the 1950s as The Del Rios, continued their rise in the ‘60s as Chubby & The Turnpikes and reached the top in the ‘70s as Tavares. View Info

Cheryl Wheeler
With roots in the Newport folk scene, she became one of the country’s most successful singers and songwriters. View Info
2013

George M. Cohan	Cowsills	Jimmie Crane	Bill Flanagan
The Fox Point native threw off the reins of his highly successful family act during the waning days of minstrelsy & became one of the greatest composers, producers & performers of the vaudeville era. View Info	This Newport family band put Rhode Island back on the map after the British Invasion of the early 1960s and are revered around the world as early proponents of the Sunshine Pop school of rock ‘n’ roll. View Info	One of the most successful composers in the history of R.I. popular music with dozens of hits recorded by major stars such as Eddie Fisher, Doris Day, Timi Yuro and Elvis Presley. View Info	Music critic and historian is one of the biggest supporters of Rhode Island artists and has proven himself an innovator in music broadcasting with VH1 “Storytellers” and CMT “Crossroads.” View Info

Paul Geremia	Bobby Hackett	Sissieretta Jones	Steve Smith & the Nakeds
Over nearly five decades and a dozen albums, this R.I. native has become one of the acknowledged masters of the folk/blues tradition putting his contemporary spin on the form. View Info	Shifting focus from successful string player in the vaudeville tradition to jazz in the early 20th century, he became one of the most celebrated trumpeters in the history of the music. View Info	One of the world’s greatest sopranos in the late 19th century and the first African-American to perform at Carnegie Hall. View Info	Originally Naked Truth, Steve Smith and his rockin’ 10 piece R&B horn band have been playing for 40 years and are currently enjoying national attention with their Sony releases. View Info

Eddie Zack & the Hayloft Jamboree
Introduced country music to New England, became a national act recording for Decca and Columbia, and were the stars of a nationally broadcast NBC radio show. View Info
2012

Anders & Poncia	John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band	Eileen Farrell	Gerry Granahan
Became two of the most successful composers and producers of the ’60s and ’70s and participated in some of the landmark recordings of the rock ‘n’ roll era while working with Phil Spector and his “Wall Of Sound.” View Info	One of the greatest rock bands of their era, big time success eluded them until a chance encounter lead to their highly acclaimed “Eddie & The Cruisers” score & multi-platinum sales & worldwide fame. View Info	Eileen Farrell was one of the finest American sopranos of the 20th century performing with every major opera company and symphony orchestra in the U.S. and is one of the best-selling classical artists of all time. View Info	Singer-songwriter Gerry Granahan earned 3 Gold Records in the late 1950s before moving behind the desk to become one of the most successful record producers of the 1960. View Info

Ken Lyon	Dave McKenna	Roomful of Blues	Oliver Shaw
Equally at home with acoustic & electric blues, the Newport native achieved international success with recordings as a solo artist & leader of the many lineups of his Tombstone Blues Band. View Info	Noted for his incredible technique, the Pawtucket pianist also became known as one of the finest improvisers and all-around players of the post-War jazz era, equally at home as a sideman, accompanist or soloist. View Info	One of the most successful r&b horn bands, Roomful launched many successful solo artists including Duke Robillard and Al Copley, remaining distinctive & popular. View Info	In the early 1800s, Prov. composer, music teacher, publisher & retailer was a nationally known powerhouse at the birth of the U.S. music industry becoming the first American-born hit songwriter. View Info