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Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble now have a permanent spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Texas guitar hero was inducted into the historic museum on April 18 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony airs on HBO on May 30.

… “I know he would want to thank the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but most of all he would want to thank his fans,” Jimmie Vaughan told the crowd. SRV and Double Trouble received 18 million votes to be inducted into the Rock Hall.

“When it turned out we were nominated, next thing I know we are the top vote getters–18 million votes,” keyboardist Reese Wynans said. “’Unbelievable,’ I said, “This is too much, too much to ask for.'” – TWCNews

It was a moment fitting of the magic and emotion that filled Stevie Ray Vaughan’s music.
Having thrilled the capacity crowd Saturday at the 30th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony with sizzling blues guitar solos and fever-pitch vocals on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy” and “Texas Flood,” Jimmie Vaughan gathered the members of Double Trouble and their guest performers for the finale of their three-song set. Jimmie alone played guitar as they went into “Six Strings Down,” a tribute to his younger brother from Jimmie’s 1994 album Strange Pleasures.

… Finally getting the nod from the Rock Hall, seven years after Stevie and his band first became eligible, clearly meant a lot to everyone involved. “It’s very emotional, but it’s also happy, too,” Jimmie said Saturday morning. “We all loved my brother.”

Double Trouble bassist Tommy Shannon, who also celebrated his 69th birthday Saturday, agreed. He kept his acceptance speech admirably short, concluding simply that “if it wasn’t for Stevie, I wouldn’t be here.” Earlier Saturday, he’d said that if Stevie were here, “I think he would have loved it. He was a very humble guy. I think he would be very thankful and glad to be here.”

… Drummer Chris Layton shared a few stories about Stevie and remembered how the guitarist summed up the band’s credo: “We need to put our foot on the gas pedal, and we need to floor it.” – Austin American-Statesman

John Mayer took the stage to speak about the man who he’s said is his biggest influence, Stevie Ray Vaughan. “I figured out there was two ways to play guitar. There was playing chords, and doing that other thing, [which] was elemental. Stevie Ray was doing the other thing. Stevie Ray Vaughan is the ultimate guitar hero.”

“There was an intensity there. There was intensity that only he could achieve, it was as otherworldly as Hendrix, but while Hendrix came from outer space, Stevie came from below the ground. He took the style of every blues guitar player who ever lived, and put it into one language.”

After the members of Double Trouble spoke, Jimmie Vaughan, a solo artist and guitar legend, said that his younger brother loved playing guitar more than anyone he ever knew, and said that Stevie Ray would have been proud to be inducted. “I couldn’t be more proud of him; he was the most talented cool brother anyone could ever have,” he said, choking up. “Music lost a good man, our family lost our beloved. Every day I wake up sober, I think of my brother. In the end, the little brother taught the big brother.” – Radio K-Earth

Bassist Tommy Shannon was just 26 when he walked into a Houston bar and was floored by the young guitarist onstage.

“Stevie was playing,” Shannon said. “Just a like a beam of light went through my head. ‘That’s where I belong.’”

… That chance meeting welcomed in a decade of music, tours, gold records and critical acclaim for Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, who will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this weekend.

“He was my very best friend,” Shannon said. “After I realized I lost him, I realized what a great musical thing I lost, too.”

Watch the Tommy Shannon interview at TWCNews.com.

Gary Clark, Jr. has been added to the performance tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble at this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on April 18. As previously announced, SRV’s brother, Jimmie Vaughan, also will perform and John Mayer will induct SRV and the band.

Tickets to the ceremony are sold out, but there’s still space at the big-screen simulcast at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum — the only place to see the ceremony the night of the event ($22; tickets.rockhall.com). HBO will air the ceremony on May 30.

Read more at Pitchfork.

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Green Day, Bill Withers, Lou Reed, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the “5” Royales and Ringo Starr all will be enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in ceremonies on Saturday, April 18, at Cleveland’s Public Hall.

It will be a bittersweet moment for Jimmie Vaughan. The pride and joy, to borrow a phrase, will be in seeing his little brother inducted. But there will also be remembrance.

“If you knew him as a person, you knew he was a special person with wonderful enthusiasm, and was very loving, and that’s what shone through when he would play guitar,” Vaughan said.

… The affection Stevie Ray and his Double Trouble bandmates had was such that his brother believes they’d still be playing together today.

“I think about it, but there’s no way to really know,” he said. “I do know he would still be playing, still learning, still changing and still having fun.’

Read more at cleveland.com.

Watch video of Buddy Guy jamming with Stevie Ray Vaughan on July 30, 1989, celebrating Guy’s 53rd birthday at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Sir Paul McCartney will induct fellow Beatle Ringo Starr, Stevie Wonder will welcome Bill Withers, Patti Smith will enshrine Lou Reed and Fall Out Boy will present Green Day when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its Class of 2015 at Public Hall on Saturday, April 18.

The Rock Hall also said that Peter Wolf, the feisty frontman for the J. Geils Band, will present the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, John Mayer will speak for Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble and Booker T. and the M.G.’s guitarist Steve Cropper will induct the “5” Royales.

The list of performers will include Vaughan’s guitar-playing older brother, Jimmie, as well as Beck, Dave Grohl, Tom Morello, and John Legend. More performers will be announced closer to the date of the induction ceremony.


Read more at Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer.

CLEVELAND — At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum … in April, items from the estate of Dallas native Stevie Ray Vaughan will join the thousands of costumes, props and assorted memorabilia in the museum’s 55,000-square-foot exhibit space.

Vaughan, the blues-rock great who died in a helicopter crash in 1990, and his band, Double Trouble, are among the 2015 class of inductees into the Hall of Fame. … Tickets to the April 18 ceremony at Public Hall sold out in a mere five minutes in December, but there’s still space at the big-screen simulcast at the museum — the only place to see the ceremony the night of the event ($22; tickets.rockhall.com). HBO will air the ceremony on May 30.

Admission to the Hall of Fame is free on April 11, when the new 2015 inductee artifacts and videos make their debut. That night, a Rock ’n’ Blast fireworks show will light the sky.

Read more at The Dallas Morning News.

Sunday night, we saw the 40th anniversary of the iconic NBC program Saturday Night Live. … Exactly 29 years ago, on Feb. 15, 1986, Austin’s very own Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble appeared as the SNL musical guest.

Recently elected to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, Stevie and the boys were hot up-and-comers back then, and SNL knew how to spot them. “I love that show, watch it all the time,” keyboardist Reese Wynans said, grinning. “It was great to be on it. We had a great time. We did our song, played real loud, rocked the house, it was fantastic.”

Read more at KXAN.com

Today, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is proud to announce the 2015 Hall of Fame Inductees. The Rock Hall’s 2015 class includes the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Green Day, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Lou Reed, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble and Bill Withers, all in the performer category.

This year’s class also recognizes the “5” Royales with the early influences award, and former Beatle and solo artist Ringo Starr enters the Hall of Fame – the last of the Fab Four to be inducted as a soloist, following John Lennon in 1994, Paul McCartney in 1999 and George Harrison in 2004.

…Leading up to the April 18, 2015 ceremony, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will host a series of special events, including the grand opening of the major new 2015 Inductee exhibit.

As in previous years, the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performer inductees were chosen by a voting body of more than 700 artists, historians and members of the music industry. To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. …Induction ceremony presenters, performers and broadcast information as well as additional details about the week of events leading up the show ceremony will be announced at a later date.

Important 2015 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Ticket Information:

Where: Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio

When: April 18, 2015

Tickets:

Tickets to the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony go on-sale to the public on Thursday, December 18, 2014 beginning at 10 a.m. EST. To purchase tickets, visit www.ticketmaster.com or call 800-745-3000. Individual tickets to the Induction Ceremony are available for $75, $150 and $300. Tickets are expected to sell out quickly. A two-ticket limit applies to all purchases.

Read more at RockHall.com.

Voting for the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class has ended. … Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble led the way in the fan poll with just over 30 percent of the vote, followed by Nine Inch Nails, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Bill Withers and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Those five acts will be placed on a fan ballot that’s added to this year’s voting pool.

It’s worth noting that the previous two winners of the fan vote — KISS and Rush — both made it into the Rock Hall the year they led the poll.

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble received 18.3 million votes — that’s 5.2 million more than cast their ballot for the second-place finisher. Thank you to everyone who voted!

Read more at Cleveland.com.