The Rolling Stones were inducted into the inaugural UK Music Hall of Fame on November 11, 2004, at London’s Hackney Empire. Their place came through a public vote: Channel 4 viewers chose the band to represent the 1960s. Ronnie Wood collected the award on their behalf, giving a guitarist who joined in the following decade the job of accepting their sixties honor.
The ceremony brought together two groups of inductees. An industry panel had selected five founding acts, while viewers chose another five from decade-based shortlists covering the 1950s through the 1990s. The Beatles were already among the founders, so the Stones’ success put both bands in the first class through different routes. Ten musical acts entered in total. The public selections followed a series of Channel 4 programs introducing the nominees and inviting viewers to vote.
Wood found the humor in his assignment. “I wasn’t even there in the 1960s as you all know. But I’m here now,” he said at the ceremony, as reported by the Irish Examiner. He had joined the Stones in 1975, after playing in the Jeff Beck Group and Faces. By the time he collected the award, he had spent nearly three decades in the band, even though he hadn’t played on the records from the period the voters were honoring.
The Stones had already entered the American Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. The UK induction was a separate award, built around a new British television project and its audience’s choices.
The inaugural ceremony also recognized work beyond the stage. Island Records founder Chris Blackwell received honorary membership for his contribution to the music industry. As CMU reported, he became its first industry inductee. His award sat outside the decade-by-decade public competition.
Channel 4 broadcast the Hackney Empire ceremony on November 14, 2004, three days after the presentations. The broadcast completed the series that had invited viewers to help choose the first inductees, with the Stones taking the public’s 1960s place.
