Pat Benatar tops my picks for Rock Hall induction once again

Now that the 2021 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been enshrined, it’s time to start thinking about the next class.
At the Oct. 30 ceremony in Cleveland, the hall inducted 12 groups and individual artists. That’s double the six performers inducted in 2020. (The hall also inducted one non-performer this year: music industry executive Clarence Avant. That makes a total of 13 inductees.)
Artist inductees this year included Tina Turner, Carole King, The Go-Go’s, Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Kraftwerk, LL Cool J and Todd Rundgren. The hall also inducted session musician Billy Preston, heavy-metal guitarist Randy Rhoads, “Father of the Delta Blues” Charley Patton and soul-jazz performer Gil Scott-Heron.
I’m hopeful that the Rock Hall will pick another large class of inductees in 2022 to deal with its growing backlog of worthy artists.
For the third year in a row, I’m promoting powerhouse singer Pat Benatar, who dominated the early MTV music television era, as my top pick for induction. She paved the way for such modern artists as Pink and Hayley Williams of Paramore.
After Benatar is in, we can talk about other worthy female artists. Here I would include Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow and Cyndi Lauper.
The only female artists that I wouldn’t mind getting the nod before Benatar would be Carly Simon and Kate Bush, both very deserving as well.
Here’s my current list, in order of preference, for induction into the Rock Hall. The first year of eligibility is in parentheses, based on data from Future Rock Legends.

1. Pat Benatar (2000)
2. Joy Division/New Order (2004/2007)
3. Phil Collins (2007)
4. INXS (2006)
5. Carly Simon (1997)
6. Kate Bush (2004)
7. Siouxsie & the Banshees (2004)
8. Duran Duran (2007)
9. The Smiths (2009)
10. Smashing Pumpkins (2016)

Related reading:

Tina Turner and The Go-Go’s Enlisted A Secret Weapon To Finally Gain Entrance To The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame: The Music Documentary (Decider; May 17, 2021)

Metal Snubs: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 10 Worst Omissions (Ultimate Classic Rock; May 19, 2021)

Eminem’s potential Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2022 would be a polarizing game-changer (Cleveland.com; Aug. 4, 2021)

Lessons from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2021 (Tech-media-tainment; Aug. 16, 2021)

Taylor Swift, Dave Chappelle and more can’t-miss moments from HBO’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction (USA Today; Nov. 19, 2021)

Photo: Cover of Pat Benatar’s second album, “Crimes of Passion” (1980)