Top Musicians Honored At The Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honor Awards Evening
The Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honor paid tribute to a list of noteworthy musicians at a flashy event held at London’s Park Lane Hotel on Monday 3 November. The event, which was hosted by Planet Rock DJ Nicky Horne, was also a celebration for Classic Rock Magazine’s 10th anniversary. Scott Rowley, Editor in Chief of Classic Rock Magazine noted that the Roll of Honor is a “celebration of rock music as the most vital and vibrant genre of music.”
Black Sabbath’s frontman and solo performer in his own right, Ozzy Osbourne, was named as a Living Legend. Ozzy, dressed in a black velvet jacket and his trade-mark round purple tinted glasses, accepted his award from guitarist of note, Slash. Ozzy joins the likes of Alice Cooper and Jimmy Page as a Classic Rock Living Legend. Slash was also an award winner, scooping the Marshall “11” Award for his ongoing contribution to rock ‘n’ roll.
Foo Fighters were named as Band Of The Year for 2008. The band’s frontman, Dave Grohl, while being unable to accept the award in person, gave his acceptance speech via video which was screened at the event. The award for Album Of The Year is always a hotly contended category and this year’s award went to Whitesnake for their album Good To Be Bad. Australian rockers Airbourne collected the award for Best New Band, and were no doubt gratified to note that a band which has been an inspiration to them, AC/DC, won the award for DVD Of The Year for Plug Me In.
Fans will be thrilled to hear that Metallica are planning a UK and European tour, and they walked off with an award for Re-Issue Of The Year for vinyl re-issues of their first three albums. The legendary Led Zeppelin were honored with the Event Of The Year award for their memorable performance at the London O2 festival. Jeff Beck collected his award for Outstanding Contribution from fellow guitarist, Ronnie Wood, while Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green received the Classic Songwriter award. Other awards made on the evening included a posthumous award to Pink Floyd’s Syd Barret, with his sister, Rosemary, collecting the Tommy Vance Inspiration Award in his honor. Bryan Adams picked up the Classic Rock Childline Award and Jack Bruce collected the Classic Album award for Cream’s Disraeli Gears.
By all accounts the Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honor awards evening was a great success and a good time was had by all.