The hall picked 16 nominees: Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, MC5, Motörhead, Nine Inch Nails, the Notorious B.I.G., Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren, Soundgarden, T. Rex and Thin Lizzy.
One criticism is that some acts aren’t rock, including Whitney Houston and the Notorious B.I.G. But that argument was decided long ago when the Rock Hall broadened its purview to cover all music popular with young people. It has added country, pop, R&B and hip-hop acts.
Other criticisms involve acts that weren’t nominated such as Warren Zevon, Boston and Iron Maiden, to name a few.
Yet another criticism is that the hall nominated only three women this year, continuing a pattern of underrepresentation.
The most interesting slight this year was the rejection of Mötley Crüe, which won the fan poll at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland.
Personally, I think the list is a good one. They all deserve to be in the hall. But the hall is notoriously picky, which has created an enormous backlog of worthy artists.
Hopefully they’ll let in more than the usual five to seven artists when the inductees are announced in January.
The nominating committee read my mind when they selected Benatar this year. She topped my wish list for the hall in an article in July. Whitney, the Doobie Brothers, Thin Lizzy and Depeche Mode were also on that list.
On the other hand, they didn’t follow my advice to do a “20 for ’20” stunt, as in 20 inductees in 2020, to help clear the backlog of worthy honorees.
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