R&B Hall of Fame honors Detroit pioneers tonight including the nation's first Black-owned TV station

Detroit will celebrate some of the people who built its sound tonight. The National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame holds its 15th induction ceremony at Bert's Music Theater with eight honorees who helped carry gospel, soul and R&B from the Motor City to the world.

Founder and chairman LaMont "ShowBoat" Robinson says the city's music story is bigger than the stars on stage. He wants to lift up the producers, disc jockeys, business owners and institutions that gave those artists a stage and a signal.

The class leans hard into that idea. One of the biggest honors goes to WGPR-TV 62, which signed on in Detroit in 1975 as the first television station in the country owned and run by Black Americans. It opened doors for Black broadcasters and put the city's own music and culture on the air.

The voices

Erma Franklin, who cut the first version of Piece of My Heart in 1967 and sang alongside her sister Aretha, joins the hall. So does their father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, a famed Detroit preacher, gospel recording artist and civil rights leader known for his powerful voice. His gospel caravan helped introduce a teenage Aretha to audiences nationwide.

Joe Von Battle is also being honored. The record shop owner and producer founded his own label, captured dozens of Rev. Franklin's sermons on record and was the first to record Aretha when she was just 14.

The people behind the music

Keyboardist and producer Rudy Robinson, who led the music at a Detroit soul label, is part of the class. So is Ollie McLaughlin, the Michigan radio host and talent scout who found and shaped acts like Barbara Lewis and produced hits including Cool Jerk and Hello Stranger.

Radio legend Ernie "Frantic Ernie" Durham, whose high energy shows helped a young Smokey Robinson find listeners, will be inducted too. The final honor goes to The Scene, the WGPR dance show hosted by Nat Morris that ran from 1975 to 1987 and became a must watch for generations of Detroiters.

Since its first ceremony in 2013 the hall has inducted more than 300 artists, executives and broadcasters. Organizers are also in talks to build a permanent home for the hall in Detroit that would tell the full history of R&B.