Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1998), Louis Jordan (1999), Muddy Waters (2000), Bessie Smith (2001), Hank Williams (2002), Buddy Holly (2003), Lead Belly (2004), Sam Cooke (2005), Roy Orbison (2006), Jerry Lee Lewis (2007), Les Paul (2008), Janis Joplin (2009), Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew (2010), Aretha Franklin (2011), and Chuck Berry (2012). Hall of Fame museum curator James Henke, along with "the museum's curatorial staff and numerous rock critics and music experts", created an unordered list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". The list is part of a permanent exhibit at the museum, and was envisioned as part of the museum from
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1996, such artists as Robert Lockwood, Jr., the Temptations, Charles Brown, Ruth Brown, the Ohio Players, Lloyd Price, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and Al Green have appeared at the museum during Black History Month. Another program is the Hall of Fame Series. This series began in April 1996 and features interviews with Hall of Fame inductees in a rare and intimate settings, most often in the Museum's Foster Theater. The interviews are usually followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience and, often, a performance by the inductee. Among the inductees who have taken part in this series are