The nominees for the next Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class have been announced. There are 15 of them . . . plenty of names for people to complain about, and plenty of space on the list for the act YOU love that WASN’T included.
The biggest names are: Def Leppard, Devo, Janet Jackson, LL Cool J, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Stevie Nicks, and The Cure. You’ve also got Todd Rundgren, The Zombies, John Prine, Kraftwerk, MC5, Roxy Music, and Rufus (featuring Chaka Khan).
To be eligible, you had to have a single or album released in 1993 or earlier. The final class will be announced in December. Usually five or six acts are inducted, and the ceremony will happen in New York City on March 29th.
Six of the nominated acts . . . Def Leppard, Devo, John Prine, Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks, and Todd Rundgren . . . were nominated for the FIRST time, but ALL of them have been eligible before.
So, that means that NO artists who just became eligible THIS YEAR were nominated, so the committee must not have been impressed by the new blood. And if you see the list, that isn’t surprising.
The biggest names that became eligible this year include: Beck, Dave Matthews Band, Sheryl Crow, Blink-182, Built to Spill, Cake, Counting Crows, Everclear, and Jeff Buckley.
They could’ve also nominated Outkast, The Roots, Snoop Dogg, Faith Hill, and Kenny Chesney.
And if you have . . . let’s say . . . ECLECTIC tastes, you may be disappointed that these newly eligible artists didn’t get a nod: Adam Sandler, Joey Lawrence, Deep Blue Something, DMX, Semisonic, and the superstar behind “What Is Love“, HADDAWAY!!!
(You can find the complete list, here.)
Previous nominees that did NOT get any love this year include: Nine Inch Nails, the Smiths, the Replacements, Depeche Mode, Bad Brains, Jane’s Addiction, the Eurythmics, and Gram Parsons.
Voting is open on the Rock Hall’s website, and you can also vote in-person at the Rock Hall museum . . . although that would require visiting Cleveland.
Last year’s inductees were Bon Jovi, The Cars, Dire Straits, the Moody Blues, and Nina Simone.
