The Byrds
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Year:
1991
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Inducted by:
Don Henley (Eagles)
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Category:
Performers
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Chris Hillman -
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David Crosby -
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Gene Clark -
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Michael Clarke -
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Roger McGuinn
Introduction
The ever-evolving pioneers of rock and roll’s expansion into new, psychedelic sounds.
Hungry to push the boundaries of popular music, the Byrds made music so inventive that they needed new genres. Their lyrical insights and groundbreaking innovation yielded songs that spoke to the present while pushing toward the future.
Hall of Fame Essay
1991
“It was Dylan meets the Beatles.”
That’s Roger McGuinn’s succinct explanation of the Byrds’ bold, brainy take on rock & roll. True enough: What the Byrds pulled off with 1965’s landmark Mr. Tambourine Man was a resonant synthesis of the Beatles’ charged pro forma precision and Dylan’s mythopoeic incantations.
It turned out to be a startlingly perfect fit, inspiring much that has followed, from their mentors’ subsequent Rubber Soul and Blonde On Blonde to the work of such disparate inheritors as Tom Petty, R.E.M., U2, and Crowded House.
The ethereal, mystical sound of The Byrds washed over them, washed over an entire nation
Photography: Kevin Mazur, WireImage
