Paul McCartney receives an award from the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

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From Des Moines Register, February 3, 2020:

McCartney this year also is set to receive his own Lifetime Achievement Award from the Iowa Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

The Arnolds Park-based Rock Hall and the board of directors of the nonprofit Iowa Rock ’n’ Roll Music Association voted in McCartney last year among 30 honorees in its Class of 2014.

Executive Director Jenna Hardy Pedersen said the museum wanted to be sure it’s “not missing a giant piece of the puzzle” even as it launches a multimillion-dollar fundraising campaign to build a larger facility.

“It wouldn’t make sense to try to tell the story of rock ’n’ roll and not have Paul McCartney as part of that story,” she said.

Board member Tom Bethke of Fort Dodge explained that it was his own “harebrained idea to go after one of four people.”

“If we’re serious about this,” he told his fellow board members, “how can we avoid the Beatles, McCartney, Elvis or (Motown founder) Berry Gordy?”

The board ultimately chose McCartney because he has performed in Iowa — the Beatles came only as close as Kansas City — and has endured as a prolific, influential songwriter.

Among the Iowans to be inducted alongside McCartney Aug. 31 in Arnolds Park will be KIOA-FM morning DJ Maxwell Schaeffer.

“What? Really?” was his reaction when he heard that he and Macca would be classmates. “That’s kind of cool.”

“I don’t know if he’ll show, but that would be a wonderful surprise,” Schaeffer said.

Bethke has reached out to McCartney through his publishing company to try to lure the Beatle to Iowa. No confirmation yet.

Last updated on February 6, 2021