Rock Hall voters stick it to the music snobs

The 2024 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced on April 21 and there were the usual complaints about the selections.
This year’s honorees include performers Mary J. Blige, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne, and A Tribe Called Quest. The hall also added eight additional honorees in musical excellence and other categories, including Jimmy Buffett and Dionne Warwick.
Music pundits groused that some inductees weren’t good enough for the honor or weren’t “rock and roll.”
Much of the vitriol was directed at Foreigner, a group popular with the masses but not music critics.
AudioPhix writer Lee Vowell said the 2024 Rock Hall inductees were “marred by one undeserving band.” He called Foreigner a commercial sellout.
Author and pop music critic Robert Hilburn said, “I’m comfortable (in) saying this year’s (list of inductees) must be the weakest ever.”
Past inductees have received similar criticisms to those for Foreigner. To name a few: Bon Jovi, Journey, Rush and Kiss.
The Rock Hall voters likely vote with their heart as much as their brain. That makes them more populist than the elitist music critics. For some critics, commercial success is a negative for music acts.
The eight Rock Hall performer inductees were selected by hall voters from 15 nominees. When you include the special categories, the hall is inducting 16 persons or groups this year.
Radio and TV personality Eddie Trunk carped that the special categories allow the hall to “circumvent voting” and induct anyone they want. But I have no major problem with that. It lets the hall honor influential and important acts that don’t get the respect they deserve from voters.
Trunk added, “It’s reduced the voting to almost being irrelevant since they can basically back door in any one they want in that doesn’t earn the votes.”
The honorees will be officially enshrined on Oct. 19 during a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio, which is home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Related articles:

Rock Hall’s 2024 Hits, and Misses (Populism; April 24, 2024)

Crowning the Idols: Thoughts on the RRHOF Class of 2024 (Iconic Rock Talk Show; April 24, 2024)

Crash into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2024 (So It Goes; April 22, 2024)

Rock Fans Share Vocal Reactions to 2024 Rock Hall Snubs (Loudwire; April 22, 2024)