Curtis Mayfield

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  • Year:
    1999
  • Inducted by:
    Sean Combs
  • Category:
    Performers
curtis mayfield signature

Introduction

Twice is nice.

Curtis Mayfield may be a rare double inductee, but his music is also a two-for-one deal: sharp social commentary mixed with compulsively danceable grooves.

Hall of Fame Essay

1999

Brian Chin

Asked once by an interviewer if he was a spiritual person, Curtis Mayfield smiled and said, “I think all human beings are spiritual.” That good opinion of others has stood him — and all of us — in good stead over four decades of music making. 

Influenced deeply by the church of his grandmother, the Reverend AB. Mayfield, and surrounded by gospel music since childhood, Curtis Mayfield would find creativity, selfhood and community forever intertwined in his career.  

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Program Cover 1999
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Curtis Mayfield Quote Image
nobody ever had more soul than my man, Curtis Mayfield
Sean Combs

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Gallery

Photography: Kevin Mazur, WireImage