YEAR
2009
INDUCTED BY
Eminem
CATEGORY
Performers
Run-D.M.C. was a group of firsts.
The first rappers featured prominently on MTV, to appear on Saturday Night Live, to grace the cover of Rolling Stone, and to win a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. They broke down barriers for future rap acts, crossed boundaries between rap and rock and dispelled old notions of what rap could be.
Darryl "DMC" McDaniels
Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell
Joseph "Rev Run" Simmons
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Alan Light
In 1985, when the first group of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees was selected, RUN DMC, the biggest rap act on the planet, decided to make its opinion known.
The video for “King of Rock,” the title track to their 1985 album, shows Run and DMC bum-rushing the “Museum of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” shoving aside a security guard played by hapless David Letterman mascot Larry “Bud” Melman so they can check out the displays for themselves.
As the song’s brontosaurus beat stomps behind them, they proceed to step on Michael Jackson’s glove, smash Elton John’s glasses, and ridicule videos spotlighting Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard.
