In 2006, former senior radio executive, John Rook, grew an idea to honor recording artists from all venues and walks of life with his friend Gil Bateman, a former recording executive. So, in 2007 they asked the world, through the internet, who should be honored.
Amazingly, more than 63,000 votes were cast in 2007 on www.hitparadehalloffame.org from around the world. Fans had over 100 nominees to choose from and the judges have indicated that twenty-eight recording artists will be inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
Here are the winners that fans worldwide received the biggest number of votes. Alphabetically, the 2007 first inductees are: Paul Anka, The Beatles,
Bo Diddley, Tony Bennett, Pat Boone, Beach Boys, Teresa Brewer, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Chubby Checker, Jimmy Clanton, Nat “King” Cole, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond, Fats Domino, Four Seasons, Aretha Franklin, Connie Francis, Brenda Lee, Johnny Mathis, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Patti Page, Elvis Presley, Diana Ross & the Supremes; Neil Sedaka, and Frank Sinatra.
With 18% of all votes coming from outside the United States, Elvis Presley topped all nominees. Fan clubs played a major role in the voting according to Hit Parade Hall of Fame creator’s Gil Bateman and John Rook.
“We’re thrilled with the response we’ve had from the public as we are still in our infancy and it appears that our voting numbers will grow as our young organization becomes more widely known,” said founders John Rook and Gil Bateman.
The next step beyond the voting is to build a hall of fame bricks and mortar
structure. Presently, the organization is speaking with two or three individuals and municipalities as to where to locate the hit Parade Hall of Fame.
In January of each year voting begins for a new group of nominees. In 2008 we will be focusing on three decades beginning in 1950. Each nominee is required to have at least two Top 10 hits, singles or album of any genre.
Besides voting for recording stars already nominated, visitors to the Hit Parade Hall of Fame website are also encouraged to suggest the names of future nominees. In the past year, fans gave the nominating committee more than five hundred names to consider.
Once nominated a recording artist has three years to gain enough votes for induction into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. A total of eighty-two 2007 nominees continue to vie for votes with sixty-two new nominees joining them in 2008. For more information, please visit www.hitparadehalloffame.org or call John Rook at (208) 664-4014.
Public Relations Contact: Rosica Strategic Public Relations