Ricky Nelson

1
  • Year:
    1987
  • Inducted by:
    John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
  • Category:
    Performers
Ricky Nelson

Introduction

Who would’ve thought a teen heartthrob could rock out?

Although he was known as a teen idol, Ricky Nelson was not just another pretty face. He jumped from a career in TV into the music world, where he blew skeptical rock and rollers away with his own rock chops.

Hall of Fame Essay

1987

Michael Hill

Ozzie and Harriet Nelson helped usher the nation into the television age as graciously as if they were simply showing guests into their home, taking their popular radio show of the Forties, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, before the TV cameras in the Fifties.

It’s fitting that their younger son, Ricky, who was growing up practically in the country’s living rooms, would help usher in the age of rock and roll. Legend has it that the sixteen -year-old Ricky originally wanted to cut records because a girlfriend at the time expressed more interest in Elvis Presley than in him.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Program 1987
1 of 2
1987 Inductee Ricky Nelson
we watched the kid next door grow up, become a superstar in rock and roll.
John Fogerty