This year’s six inductees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were announced Wednesday morning, and they are Whitney Houston, Depeche Mode, the Notorious B.I.G., Nine Inch Nails, the Doobie Brothers, and T. Rex.
Notably absent from the Class of 2020, however, was Pat Benatar.
The fact that Benatar — one of the most successful female artists of the 1980s, who undoubtedly set the template for female hard rock singers at a time when few female hard rock singers had a presence on the charts or at rock radio — had never been nominated before had been a subject of annual Hall protest. She was widely predicted to be a lock this year, especially considering that last year’s inductee, Janet Jackson, had implored in her Rock Hall acceptance speech to thunderous applause: “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, please, 2020: Induct more women!” (Only three female artists total were on this year’s Hall ballot, the other two being Houston and passed-over four-time nominee Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. Women make up less than 8 percent of all Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees.)
Benatar actually came in second in this year’s online Fan Vote. Also not making the Class of 2020 cut were the Dave Matthews Band, who actually topped the Fan Vote by a wide margin. (It is noteworthy that the seven previous winners of the Fan Vote had all been inducted in their years).
Along with Benatar, hard/classic rock in general was passed over, with nominees Motörhead, Thin Lizzy, Todd Rundgren, the MC5, and two other artists that made the top five of the Fan Vote, Judas Priest and Soundgarden, all not getting in.
It was also interesting that six-time nominees Kraftwerk were passed over in favor of their logical successors Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails, since it could easily be argued that all electronic music can be traced back in some way to the German techno pioneers. [Reply]
I mean I personally am a big fan of Faith No More and Fugazi getting in but I don't express that because it is too obscure. But being mad that bands aren't hard enough for your personal mendoza line of nut-appropriate basslines seems kind of silly to me. [Reply]
I’ve had a vote for the inductees since 2012, and I can absolutely tell you that the majority of the voting committee has no fucking clue what they are doing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by alpha_omega:
I'm ok with Whitney. Is B.I.G deserving?
It’s really more the Music Hall of Fame at this point. Which is fine with me since there are incredible artists in other genres that deserve to be honored somewhere and the R&RHOF is probably the most natural place for that.
And Yes, B.I.G. is arguably the greatest rapper of all time. He definitely deserves to be in. [Reply]
Originally Posted by comochiefsfan:
It’s really more the Music Hall of Fame at this point. Which is fine with me since there are incredible artists in other genres that deserve to be honored somewhere and the R&RHOF is probably the most natural place for that.
And Yes, B.I.G. is arguably the greatest rapper of all time. He definitely deserves to be in.
He's not even in my top 10 :
1. Eminem
2. OutKast
3. Too Short
4. Beastie Boys
5. Tupac
6. Beck
7. Cypress Hill
8. Snoop
9. Eazy-E
10. Ice Cube [Reply]
Originally Posted by comochiefsfan:
It’s really more the Music Hall of Fame at this point. Which is fine with me since there are incredible artists in other genres that deserve to be honored somewhere and the R&RHOF is probably the most natural place for that.
And Yes, B.I.G. is arguably the greatest rapper of all time. He definitely deserves to be in.
Agreed. They really need to change the name to the music hall of fame or something like that.
They have moved a long ways away from their original scope. [Reply]
Originally Posted by cosmo20002:
Depeche Mode...jfc...
There's a handful left that deserve it, but they're basically running out of "rock" acts to induct. Its going to be more and more rap, lightweight pop, and horrible EDM-type stuff.
And given that "rock" isnt that popular anymore, who's left for the future...Foo Fighters and...?
'Out of rock acts!?'
Soundgarden
Faith No More
Black Crowes
KISS
Humble Pie (Frampton and Marriot!!)
Canned Heat
Bad Company
Def Leppard
Boston
Blue Oyster Cult
Joe Fucking Cocker
Steppenwolf
Ten Years After (Alvin Fuckin' Lee!)
War
Johnny Fucking Winter
Thin Fucking Lizzy
Television
Flying Burrito Brothers/Gram Fucking Parsons
New York Fucking Dolls
Mott the Fucking Hoople
Little Feat
King Crimson
Judas Fucking Priest
Iron Fucking Maiden
Love
The Guess Who
Grand Funk
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
Originally Posted by Strongside:
I’ve had a vote for the inductees since 2012, and I can absolutely tell you that the majority of the voting committee has no fucking clue what they are doing.
If you are free to share...I am sure we would be interested in knowing how you came about having a vote????? [Reply]
Originally Posted by comochiefsfan:
It’s really more the Music Hall of Fame at this point. Which is fine with me since there are incredible artists in other genres that deserve to be honored somewhere and the R&RHOF is probably the most natural place for that.
And Yes, B.I.G. is arguably the greatest rapper of all time. He definitely deserves to be in.
Originally Posted by rabblerouser:
He's not even in my top 10 :
1. Eminem
2. OutKast
3. Too Short
4. Beastie Boys
5. Tupac
6. Beck
7. Cypress Hill
8. Snoop
9. Eazy-E
10. Ice Cube
Thanks to both of you. Rap really isn't my thing, so i wasn't sure if BIG was really that BIG or not. [Reply]
Originally Posted by rabblerouser:
'Out of rock acts!?'
Soundgarden
Faith No More
Black Crowes
KISS
Humble Pie (Frampton and Marriot!!)
Canned Heat
Bad Company
Def Leppard
Boston
Blue Oyster Cult
Joe ****ing Cocker
Steppenwolf
Ten Years After (Alvin ****in' Lee!)
War
Johnny ****ing Winter
Thin ****ing Lizzy
Television
Flying Burrito Brothers/Gram ****ing Parsons
New York ****ing Dolls
Mott the ****ing Hoople
Little Feat
King Crimson
Judas ****ing Priest
Iron ****ing Maiden
Love
The Guess Who
Grand Funk
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
And that's just off the top of my head.
KISS is in. Ok more than a handful left, but SOME of those are fairly obscure and/or had a very short lifespan. Or very few "hits" to make them popular enough to get in. I mean its suppsed to be Hall of Fame, not Hall of Had a good album in 1970 and played a little with Clapton.
Anyway, the big-name rock acts are dwindling and they are churning out fewer and fewer of them over the last decade or so. [Reply]