Visit The Blues Hall Of Fame in Memphis, TN
Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise + Big City Rhythm & Blues Magazine High Seas Silent Auction:
- TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO DATE: $1,495,500
- Blues Hall Of Fame (Memphis): In excess of $500,000 (be sure to visit the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise Gallery featuring ever-changing exhibits of iconic images of many Blues greats)
- Record Cruise (January ’13 Caribbean): $65,000
Past & Present Beneficiaries include:
The Blues Hall Of Fame & Blues Foundation, Music Maker Relief Foundation, Gimme 5! Artist Relief Fund, Koko Taylor Celebrity Aid Foundation, Voice Of The Wetlands (Houma, LA), PCa Blue, Little Smokey Smothers Fund (c/o Elvin Bishop), Bob Enos Memorial Fund (Roomful of Blues), Joe Louis Walker Medical Fund, Chico Banks Fund, Otis Clay Memorial Fund, Curtis Salgado Medical Fund…
Courtesy of The Blues Foundation:
LRBC Raises Big $$ for The Blues Foundation
“The Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise has proven to be one of The Blues Foundation’s biggest financial sponsors in the recent years and this year is no exception. We are better at dancing than counting sometimes, but the silent auction on the most recent January Caribbean cruise netted The Blues Foundation almost $10,000. The total proceeds were over $20,000, a record. Significant proceeds also went to Gimme 5! and the Music Maker Relief Foundation.
Is there any question that the most popular prize for the IBC winning band is the gig on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise??
In recent years, the Backbone of the Blues tour was instrumental in increasing memberships for The Blues Foundation from their blues land yacht at festivals around the country. The Blues Foundation saw a significant increase in membership as a result of the members only drawing for a cabin for two on this past January’s cruise. The Blues Foundation has hooked up with the LRBC once again so a lucky member will again be our guest on the 2010 Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise.
For several years now, a silent auction held on the high seas in January has provided the Foundation with a great deal of financial support. These silent auctions have been a joint effort with Big City Rhythm and Blues magazine, in that Shirley Mae and Robert Jr. have organized and overseen the auction as well as securing most of the items that have been included in the auction. Five figure contributions!!! Each year!!! Who would have thought that so much good would have come from so much fun!!!
Thanks to everyone at the LRBC offices in Kansas City and around the country and to all who have contributed to or submitted bids on the cruise silent auction items.”
If you are interested in donating items for our High Seas Silent Auction, please e-mail here. Thank you to all cruisers and item donors who have helped make the High Seas Silent Auction a HUGE success!
The Blues Foundation
The Blues Foundation is Memphis-based, but world-renown as THE organization dedicated to preserving our blues music history, celebrating recording and performance excellence, supporting blues education and ensuring the future of this uniquely American art form. Founded in 1980, The Blues Foundation has 4500 individual members and 195 affiliated local blues societies representing another 50,000 fans and professionals around the world. Its signature honors and events–the Blues Music Awards, Blues Hall of Fame, International Blues Challenge and Keeping the Blues Alive Awards–make it the international center of blues music. Its HART Fund provides the blues community with medical assistance while its Sound Healthcare program offers musicians health insurance access. Blues in the Schools programs and Generation Blues scholarships expose new generations to blues music. Throughout the year, the Foundation staff serves the worldwide Blues community with answers, contact information and news.
A twenty-five person Board of Directors governs the Foundation. Funding for The Blues Foundation comes from membership dues, private donations, corporate sponsorships, grants from private foundations, government agencies and arts organizations and merchandise, advertising and event ticket sales. Contributions to The Blues Foundation, including membership dues, are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law.
The Blues Hall Of Fame
The Blues Hall of Fame is located in Downtown Memphis at 421 South Main St across from the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Hotel.
The Blues Hall of Fame honors those who have made the Blues timeless through performance, documentation, and recording. Since its inception in 1980, The Blues Foundation has inducted new members annually into the Blues Hall of Fame for their historical contribution, impact and overall influence on the Blues. Members are inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in five categories: Performers, Individuals, Classic of Blues Literature, Classic of Blues Recording (Song), Classic of Blues Recording (Album). Since 1980, The Blues Foundation has inducted 350+ performers, industry professionals, recordings and literature into the Blues Hall of Fame. Of the 130 performer inductees, 120 of them are African-American.
A Blues Hall of Fame induction ceremony is held each year in Memphis and a web presence has long existed but there has never been a bricks and mortar presence, never physical exhibits to honor the legends or for people to learn from and enjoy. Until now. On May 8, 2015, The Blues Foundation opened the Blues Hall of Fame in downtown Memphis across the street from the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel.
The Blues Hall of Fame: (1) pays tribute to the great blues men and women, giving them and their music the respect and validation they deserve; (2) annually educates tens of thousands of visitors about blues music and its performers, whether those visitors are young school children or music fans from around the globe; and (3) brings tens of thousands of visitors into contact with The Blues Foundation, for increased membership, increased donations to our HART Fund and Generation Blues programs and merchandise sales that help fund all of our programs.
The Blues Hall of Fame is the place to: honor inductees year-round; educate the public about the music; experience audio and visual performances; and preserve historic mementos of this art form. The Blues Hall of Fame is the place for serious blues fans, casual visitors, and wide-eyed students. It facilitates audience development and membership growth. It exposes, enlightens, educates, and entertains. The facility serves all four components of The Blues Foundation’s mission: preserving history, celebrating excellence, supporting education, and ensuring the future of the music.
Over $2.9 million was raised to build the Blues Hall of Fame. Of the $2.9 million, $2 million came from blues fans around the world while much of the rest was donated by Memphis philanthropic foundations.
“Roger and his team are wonderful and very philanthropic. We appreciate you LRBC greatly.”
– Lynn Orman Weiss, Producer/Programming Director of PCa Blue