Illinois Rock & Roll Museum Reschedules 2024 Hall of Fame Inductions

JOLIET — Due to unforeseen circumstances, the 4th Annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony presented by the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 in Joliet will be rescheduled.

“We are in the process of working out a new date for Spring 2025,” said Ron Romero, the museum’s CEO and Founder, in Tuesday's press release. “We hope to announce that date in the forthcoming week. Tickets purchased for the original October 20th date will be honored for new performance date. We appreciate your patience.”

While the date of the event will change, the press release indicated that the event will again be held at the historic Rialto Square Theatre in downtown Joliet, and the star-studded lineup of Illinois-based musicians, songwriters and other inductees scheduled to appear will remain the same.

Inductions to the Artist/Performer category include Richard Marx, The Smashing Pumpkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and Bo Diddley. Vee-Jay Records will join the Hall of Fame in the Record Label category as well as Steve Goodman and Willie Dixon as Songwriters. Bob Stroud, a hometown Classic Rock favorite, will be inducted for his decades of on air work as a Radio Personality, and the legendary Big 10 WCFL enters the Hall of Fame in the Radio Station category. Marshall Thompson and The Original Chi-Lites will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.This year’s Founder’s Choice Award recipient is Country artist Suzy Bogguss and Joe Shannahan and his Metro Chicago will be inducted in the Venue category.

WGN Radio’s Bob Sirott will return as Master of Ceremonies. Additional Hall of Fame events and live appearances from Illinois artists, broadcasters and journalists are being finalized and will be announced soon.

Ticket prices are $65, $55 and $45 each and are available now on the museum’s website at www.RoadToRock.org as well as www.RialtoSquare.com and at TicketMaster.

As for the immediate future of downtown Joliet's Rialto Square Theatre, that remains uncertain.

The theater remains shut down to the public because of the air pollution problems that came to light in July.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has filed a lawsuit at the Will County Courthouse against the Rialto's board members and the two contractors hired to do the interior renovations that resulted in the asbestos being spread inside the theater.

The Rialto remains bogged down now in the litigation. Attorney Jim Murphy of Joliet's Mahoney, Silverman and Cross law firm is representing the Rialto in its air pollution lawsuit from the state of Illinois.