Green Day’s Armstrong, Phish’s Anastasio To Welcome Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2010 Inductees

There’s pretty much no achievement of rock and roll that’s as esteemed and celebrated as being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s basically the Holy Grail, at least, by some people’s standards. And every year, the music players and fans around the world wait to hear which bands or individuals made the cut. This year’s inductees include: iconic punk band, the Stooges, prog pillars Genesis, reggae’s Jimmy Cliff, the Hollies and the glitter gods of my dreams, Abba. Talk about your musical pu pu platter.

Maybe I can only speak for myself here, but whenever RRHF induction time comes around, I’m almost as excited to hear who will be presenting and performing as I am to know who’s getting the golden ticket. In 2010, New York’s Waldorf-Astoria will be graced by Phish’s Trey Anastasio, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Wyclef Jean and the E Street Band’s Steven Van Zandt, all of whom will be there to introduce and honor the inductees. And provide a little aural entertainment, naturally. I’ve got my fingers super crossed for Iggy Pop to join all of the aforementioned artists for a superstar power jam. I’m just sayin’.

Given how the world of rock and roll is frequently littered with bouts of drug addiction, legal woes, creative differences, getting on and off of wagons and just generally unpleasant nonsense, it’s always a lovely breath of fresh air when the music industry can collectively shake off their icky baggage for one night and come together in celebration of the accomplishments of their peers and, if they’re very lucky, themselves.

Man, that sounds like a cheesy inspirational speech. But what the hell…it’s the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you can’t be acceptably cheesy about this, then I don’t know what to think about the world anymore.