Steve Dahl? Pumpkins? Lionel Richie? IL Rock HOF Voting Here

JOLIET, IL — A sold-out crowd attended last summer's first-ever Illinois Rock & Roll Museum Hall of Fame induction ceremony, held at the Rialto Square Theatre. Now, the time has arrived for the downtown Joliet's museum second-ever Hall of Fame class with ties to Illinois music.

A ballot has been emailed to all charter members of the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum to do the final voting. You can get your charter membership card at the museum's website.

Illinois Rock & Roll Hall of Fame voting spans five categories. Four bands or solo artists will be chosen as winners, as will two songwriters, one disc jockey, one radio station and one recording label or record company.

There are 12 bands or solo artists on the final ballot: (pick four winners to be announced)

• Dan Fogelberg
• Styx
• New Colony Six
• Smashing Pumpkins
• Sam Cooke
• Alison Krauss
• Chuck Berry
• Chi-Lites
• Howlin' Wolf
• Nat King Cole
• Chaka Khan
• Jackie DeShannon

There are five songwriters on the final ballot: (pick two winners)

• Jim Peterik
• Lionel Richie
• Dennis DeYoung
• Willie Dixon
• Richard Marx

There are five disc jockeys on the final ballot: (one winner)

• Mitch Michaels
• Steve Dahl
• Terri Hemmert
• John Records Landecker
• Bob Sirott

There are three radio stations on the final ballot: (one winner)

• WXRT
• WLUP (The Loop)
• WCFL

There are three recording labels/record companies on the ballot: (one winner)

• Alligator Records
• Vee-Jay Records
• Mercury Records

The Illinois Rock & Roll Museum, which is being built created in a Joliet historic building with four levels at 9 West Cass St., across from The Forge, hopes to open this year.

The Illinois Rock & Roll Museum is 100 percent reliant on private donations for the remodeling. There are no government funds or city of Joliet subsidies provided for the project.

Museum founder Ron Romero told Joliet Patch that the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum currently tops 600 charter members. He expects to have the votes tallied in March.

The recent nomination process was open to everybody, Romero explained.

For its second Hall of Fame class, the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum received 5,262 nominations from people in 28 states, plus several major international locations including France, Germany, Ontario, Great Britain, Mexico, Hungary, Ireland, Norway and Zimbabwe.

"There was a tremendous amount of support for Dan Fogelberg," remarked Romero.

Born in Peoria, Fogelberg died in 2007 at age 56 from prostate cancer, according to The New York Times.

Romero said it's his goal to bring all the 2021 winners, or their family members, to downtown Joliet to attend this year's induction ceremony, which will be at the Rialto again.

These were winners selected for the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum's inaugural Class of 2020:

• REO Speedwagon
• Chicago
• Cheap Trick
• Buddy Guy
• Muddy Waters
• Dick Biondi
• Larry Lujack
• WLS Radio - AM
• Ides of March
• The Buckinghams
• Chess Records

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Ferak Column: Lionel Richie As Joliet's Next City Manager?

Konkol: Meet The Guy Who Fixed Billy Corgan's Stolen Guitar

2021 Photos: Illinois Rock & Roll Museum On Route 66 Sneak Peek

Joliet's New IL Rock & Roll Museum Inducting 1st Hall of Fame