Cher, Mary J. Blige, Ozzy Osbourne Among Rock Hall of Fame Inductees

Mary J. Blige speaks during the 39th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Mary J. Blige speaks during the 39th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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Cher, Mary J. Blige, Ozzy Osbourne Among Rock Hall of Fame Inductees

Mary J. Blige speaks during the 39th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Mary J. Blige speaks during the 39th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Cher, Mary J. Blige and Ozzy Osbourne were among this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, an elite group formally introduced into the music pantheon Saturday at a star-studded concert gala.

Kool & the Gang, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, and Peter Frampton round out the 2024 class of honorees, artists honored at the ceremony held in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the prestigious hall.

Big Mama Thornton, Alexis Korner and John Mayall received special honors for "musical influence," as Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield received awards for "musical excellence."

Suzanne de Passe, a trailblazer for women executives in the music business, who was big in Motown, won the night's award for non-performing industry professionals.

Dua Lipa kicked off the evening with a performance of "Believe," with Cher joining the pop star onstage to finish her 1998 smash hit, which was credited as the first song to use auto-tune technology as an instrument.

"I changed the sound of music forever," she said in her acceptance speech, less than a year after railing against the hall for not having yet added her to the ballot.

"It was easier getting divorced from two men than it was getting in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," she quipped Saturday night.

Performers included Kelly Clarkson, Sammy Hagar, Slash and Demi Lovato, who all appeared for Foreigner.

A group of artists including Queen Latifah, De La Soul and Busta Rhymes also performed with the surviving members of the eclectic, pioneering hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest -- Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White.



Japan’s Toho Buys Ghibli Animation Distributor GKIDS to Further Overseas Growth

People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)
People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)
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Japan’s Toho Buys Ghibli Animation Distributor GKIDS to Further Overseas Growth

People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)
People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)

Toho Co, the Japanese creator of the "Godzilla" movie franchise, will acquire the US distributor of Studio Ghibli's famed animated films, it said on Wednesday, to help drive overseas expansion.

The acquisition comes amid a surge in global popularity for Japanese entertainment, and fits with Toho's multi-year growth strategy centered on animation and overseas markets.

New York-based GKIDS, which distributed Ghibli's Oscar-winning "The Boy and the Heron", will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Toho after the deal, whose terms were not disclosed in statements from both companies.

"We are truly thrilled to be joining forces with the esteemed and storied Toho," GKIDS, which has distributed 13 animated films nominated for Oscars, said in a statement, citing founder Eric Beckman and President Dave Jesteadt.

Toho's own "Godzilla Minus One", a hit in overseas markets, took home an Oscar for visual effects in March, while "Shogun", a historical epic filmed mostly in Japanese, won a record number of Emmy Awards last month for a single season of drama.

Japan set up a committee last month to promote its entertainment industry, which was worth 12.9 trillion yen ($86.43 billion) in 2021, ranking third globally after the United States and China, the cabinet office said.

GKIDS manages the film catalogue of Ghibli, the studio of renowned Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, in North America.

In March, it inked a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to extend the US streaming rights to Ghibli films.