Mogollon Band, Michael Bruce, original lead guitarist for Alice Cooper, Jack Curtis and Loy Clingman, pioneers in the promotion and recording of Arizona talent, will be inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame at an upcoming ceremony.

The ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. Sunday, July 16 at Madison Center for the Arts, 5601 N. 16th St., in Phoenix.

The Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame was created to recognize and honor the contributions of musicians, entertainers, venues, and individuals who have had a significant impact on the evolution and development of the musical and entertainment culture in Arizona.

Tickets start at $25 at themadison.org.

There will be a special tribute to Duane Moore, Mogollon Band lead singer, who passed in April 2022. George Brunson created the Mogollon Band in Heber-Overgaard back in 1979, and it's been an Arizona favorite ever since.

Bruce was one of the original members of the Alice Cooper Band. He joined the band in 1966 and left in 1975, and wrote the music for so many of the Alice Cooper hits including “No More Mister Nice Guy,” “I’m Eighteen,” and “School’s Out.” Bruce is currently working on a new album with his original band, the Michael Bruce band.

Curtis is synonymous with entertainment in Arizona from the late 1950s through the 1990s with his five-decade career. In 1957, he wrote an entertainment column for the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette. His record label, Mascot Records, featured one of the most popular and certainly the best-selling Phoenix band of the 60s; P-Nut Butter.

His State Fair concerts headlined internationally known acts such as Sonny & Cher, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap and more.

Mogollon Band, created in Heber-Overgaard back in 1979, will be inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame in July.

(Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame, courtesy)

Clingman was a pioneer in Arizona folk music. He was recording, writing and performing his cowboy poet tunes on the weekend as he supported his family on a teacher's wage. Among the many singers he produced at his studio Viv, was a young Mirriam Johnson, who became the famous Jessi Colter years later. In 1960, Clingman continued to record hundreds of local bands and singers well into the 70s.

The inductees’ names will be added to the current list of 75 artists honored by the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame, which include Linda Ronstadt, Steven Spielberg, Waylon Jennings & Jessi Colter, Marty Robbins, Stevie Nicks, Nils Lofgren, Dick Van Dyke, Wallace & Ladmo, Pat McMahon and Glen Campbell.

Visit azmusichalloffame.org.