Black Sabbath and Blondie Inducted Into Rock Hall

Rock and Roll lived up to its rebellious name on Monday night as Blondie and Black Sabbath were ushered into the Hall of Fame amid a cloud of tension and disdain. This year's crop of inductees included such greats as Jazz legend Miles Davis, southern fried rockers Lynard Skynard, disco -new wavers Blondie, metal gods Black Sabbath, and punk pioneers The Sex Pistols, but it was the long standing feud with former Blondie band members that stole the show at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria's grand ballroom.

It appears tensions still ran high between Blondie diva Debby Harry and former bandmates Frank Infante and Nigel Harrison, who were spurned by the blonde frontlady when the band received their award. According to the Associated Press, as the band was set to perform some of their top hits, the feud spilled on to the stage, "Infante, Harrison and Gary Valentine, another former member left behind in a business dispute, were barely acknowledged by former chums Deborah Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke as they received their awards. Infante begged to perform with the band." The AP report goes on to reveal that Infante asked Harry if they could reunite on stage, but Harry made clear her band was already onstage, forcing the former bandmates to exit the stage not before Infante groaned his displeasure into the microphone.

Blondie rose to fame during the late 70's, emerging from the legendary New York rock underground alongside such musical acts the Ramones and Talking Heads. After such New Wave crossover hits as Heart of Glass, Call Me, and Rapture, Blondie found itself fighting for survival amid illness and creative differences. In 1983, Harry ended a shortlived solo career to help bandmate Chris Stein battle the rare genetic disease Pemphigus, but upon his recovery several years later, Harry resumed her musical career to much less fanfare in a new era. Her commanding stage presence, sultry appeal and blonde style continued to live on throughout the decades, making Blondie one of the most loved rock acts in history.

Although Blondie stirred the pot, rockers Black Sabbath were also on hand to pick up their award and laid relatively low as compared to their reputation, but aging frontman Ozzy Osbourne has had a history of vocalizing his displeasure with the hall for not inducting the band sooner, none of which seemed to be evident at the event. Although Ozzy, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward didn't take to the stage, current reigning metal gods Metallica paid tribute to the band with live performances of such Sabbath greats as Iron Man and Hole in the Sky. Sabbath, who have widely been credited as the originators of Heavy Metal, have been busy in recent years having reunited for annual tour dates, also taking center stage at Ozzy's mulitstaged mega-tour Ozzfest.

When the Hall of Fame announced this year's inductees and punk pioneers The Sex Pistols were on the list, but in true rebel form original member Johnny Rotten, aka John Lydon, made waves when he claimed the band would never accept rock's most prestigious honor at this year's event. Lydon's disdain for the Hall centered around the fact that the Rock institution passed over the band for the past three years, and this year The Sex Pistols wanted nothing to do with the award. True to his word, The SexPistols were a no show, but according to the New York Times, a grammatically incorrect letter was read onstage by Rolling Stone founder Jann S. Wenner, "It says, in part: 'Your anonymous as judges, but your still music industry people. Were not coming. Your not paying attention.'"

As the show appeared to live up to its namesake with rocker fever, according to sources, Herbie Hancock ushered Jazz legend Miles Davis into the Hall while southern rock greats Lynard Skynard were inducted with a gracious speech from the widow of late frontman Ronnie Van Zandt, who, along with guitarist Steve Gaines, was killed in a plane crash in 1977. Also making the Hall of Fame via lifetime achievement awards were famous trumpteer Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, collective founders of A&M Records.

[Sources: Associated Press; New York Times]