Illinois Rock & Roll Hall of Fame brings induction ceremony to Chicago

The Illinois Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted a new class of honorees Sunday night, covering a variety of styles and generations.

For the first time, the Illinois Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, located in Joliet, brought its induction ceremony to the Loop — specifically the Harris Theater at Millennium Park. It was a natural fit for some of the artists who say Chicago is responsible for their greatest hits.

REO Speedwagon songwriter and lead vocalist Kevin Cronin grew up in Oak Lawn.

"Every time I come to Chicago, I expect it to be just how it was, you know, when I used to live here — and it's not," Cronin said. "But it's great to see the progress, and it's also great to see the things that have stayed the same."

Cronin credits Chicago with some of his biggest chart-toppers.

"You know, I was thinking yesterday how many of my well-known songs were written in Chicago," said Cronin. "I wrote 'I Can't Fight This Feeling' in Chicago up at 5100 Marine Drive in my apartment. I wrote 'In My Dreams' in Chicago. I wrote 'Keep Pushing' just walking down Washington Avenue [sic] at a low point, and I was just walking along, just kind of grooving, and I just started singing, 'keep pushing, keep pushing.'"

Cronin was inducted Sunday alongside industry trailblazers — "Hey There Delilah" hitmakers The Plain White T's from Lombard, Queen of the Blues Koko Taylor, radio personality Terri Hemmert, radio station WDRV The Drive, 1960s hitmaking band The American Breed from Brookfield, jazz-rock band The Flock, biker bar band The Boyzz, and the band Survivor.

The artists said the ceremony was an opportunity to come together in camaraderie. Jim Peterik was the singer and guitarist for The Ides of March of "Vehicle" fame, and went on to found Survivor, best known for "Eye of the Tiger."

"It all came together, and the people that were there in the audience and the techs and everything they're like: 'Eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight!'" Peterik said. "I said: 'Come up on stage! You're better than I am at this!'"

"Eye of the Tiger," of course, became the theme song for "Rocky III," starring Sylvester Stallone. But Peterik was not expecting it to become a timeless anthem at first.

"I was writing it with Frankie [Sullivan], and we knew had something big, and we sent it to Stallone, and he said, 'You guys just wrote a song that is going to outlive you and me,' and I go, 'Whatever, Sly,'" Peterik said, "and that was 1982, and now in 2026, he was right."

The ceremony is the Hall of Fame's largest fundraising event, supporting preservation work, exhibits, and education programs.