Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ben E. King died last Thursday. Fans once had to scour the museum to find any mementos of their favorite artists when they passed away. But now the Rock Hall has a gallery dedicated to that purpose. Ideastream’s Mark Urycki visited the gallery recently and filed this report.
As soon as word came that inductee Ben E. King had died, curators at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame began gathering material on the singer. King was inducted as a member of the wildly popular 1950’s band The Drifters. But he’s perhaps better known to younger audiences for his hit song “Stand By Me…”
The Rock hall’s Vice President of Collections and Curatorial Affairs Karen Herman says the museum wants to establish a permanent Memorial Gallery.
“It’s where we used to have the Hall of Fame Inductee exhibit but we’ve converted it into.. really a look at the legacies of all of the people we’ve lost recently, the inductees that we’ve lost . We have full bios of everyone, a photograph, as well as artifacts from their careers.
Ben E King’s exhibit will go up next month along with that of Bob Burns of Lynard Skynard and Percy Sledge. They will be next to Phil Everly, Pete Seeger, Tommy Ramone, and Jack Bruce among inductees who recently passed away.