IL Rock & Roll Museum Inducts 7 Performers Into 1st Hall Of Fame

JOLIET, IL —The first inductees into Joliet's new Illinois Rock & Roll Museum On Route 66 were announced Friday night. They are: Chicago, Cheap Trick, Ides of March, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Buckinghams and REO Speedwagon.

The museum also announced four Hall of Fame inductions for non-performers: WLS Radio, Chess Records, Thirsty Whale and Larry Lujack. Lastly, the Founder's Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Dick Biondi.

"There are some greats being inducted for this first class or inductees," Ron Romero, local musician and founder of the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum, told Joliet Patch Friday night.

Membership in the museum, so far, includes music fans from as far away as Washington state, California, Florida, Texas, Kentucky, Ohio and Colorado, Romero said.

Over the past several weeks, charter members of the new Illinois Rock & Roll Museum were allowed to vote on the first-ever Hall of Fame. Romero has been spearheading the project since 2017 and last year he acquired a three-story building at 9 W. Cass St., directly across from The Forge, as the future museum.

Romero has said he wants to have at least one of the three floors open before the end of this summer, to capitalize on Joliet's boost from international tourism traffic on Route 66.

The Illinois Rock & Roll Museum plans to have a dinner banquet to induct the initial honorees at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 29 at downtown's Renaissance Center. Tickets are available online at www.roadtorock.org

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