Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, and Notorious B.I.G. to be inducted into Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Aux Features Music
This week, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame announced its 2020 inductees, and honestly, after seeing the list of nominees back in October, they did a surprisingly good job. As revealed on the Hall Of Fame’s website (via Vulture), the 2020 class consists of Whitney Houston, the Doobie Brothers, T. Rex, Depeche Mode, the Notorious B.I.G., and Nine Inch Nails (maybe next year, Dave Matthews Band). This is particularly interesting for NIN, since—as we noted when the nominations went out—up until recently Trent Reznor had gone on record saying he “couldn’t give less of a shit” about the Hall Of Fame. That apparently changed last year, when he gave a speech honoring The Cure at least year’s induction event and implied that finally acknowledging that particular band had gone a long way toward legitimizing the Hall Of Fame’s (occasionally nonsensical) opinions.
Speaking with Rolling Stone about his own induction, Reznor (who is the only member of the band being officially named by the Hall Of Fame) said that he’s “pretty freaked out” and never thought Nine Inch Nails would get this kind of acknowledgement. “It always seems like we fall between the cracks or we’re not in this category or ‘that thing,’ he explained, later adding that he’s “used to failing” and so it’s a relief for him that he no longer has to be reminded every year that the people in Cleveland don’t think he’s good enough. Reznor also told Rolling Stone that he was glad to see a wider array of inductees this year, saying it’s all about “the spirit of rock & roll” instead of just bands with a guitar and drums, which is what opens it up to hip-hop and synthesizers—though, for the record, he does say he’d like to see more bands with synthesizers getting recognized.
The inductees will be honored at the usual big, celebrity-filled musical event, this time on May 2, and now it’ll actually be held in Cleveland instead of “cooler” or “bigger” cities like in previous years (it will also air live on HBO).
68 Comments
Good to see Trent getting closer to giving a shit about this.
Getting passed over would have really Hurt.
Could have sent him into a Downward Spiral. He’d need The Perfect Drug to get out of that.
Sometimes he has a head like a hole.
Looks like him saying he didn’t care about the HOF was just a terrible lie.
Awesome to see NIN and Depeche Mode get in. Not like they needed any validation. But whatever 😉
Overall my feelings are mixed. Notorious BIG and Whitney were extremely predictable nominees as they were the only representatives Rap and pure pop. But the fan ballot was absolutely meaningless this year. Having said that, I dislike the Dave Matthews Band, so I am not sorry to to see them not get in.I am happy for T Rex and the Doobie Brothers deserve it.
It pissed me off when Heart was passed over in favor of The Beastie Boys.
Heart sucks.
It’s sabotage.
rap and hip hop are not “rock and roll” so I have no idea why they are being voted into a rock and roll hall of fame. Just elect Garth Brooks and Beethoven too, if you do not care that your nominees are not even in your genre and are just electing good musicians.
I do think that’s a weird direction that the HoF has taken. Maybe it’s easier to just allow everyone to be eligible than it is to define and draw lines around what’s considered rock n’ roll. There’ll just be so many acts that end up in the margins. Not saying this act will ever be eligible, but for the sake of argument, is Natalie Prass rock n’ roll? Her first album was pretty much indie rock, but her second was definitely more soul & R&B. Again, I think the HofF is better off renaming itself than gatekeeping.
This is the way to go. Music Hall of Fame? American Music Hall of Fame? Something fancy with the name of a Greek Muse in it? Otherwise it’s just eventually going to be old white dudes and their admirers holding court in a corner while nobody else cares.
A Music Hall of Fame should not include Notorious BIG. He would need a Crappy Noise Hall of Fame.
They should do that anyway since Rock N Roll was invented in Memphis.
old white dudes Edgy!
I agree with you but lets be honest the Notorious B.I.G. is more famous for being shot around the sake time a Tupac any of his songs nowadays.
I definitely wouldn’t even remotely classify Whitney Houston as a rock n roll artist, as good as she was.
What is Rock n Roll if not popular music after 1955?
I badly want to see the speech where Rammstein inducts Beethoven.
Exactly. Notorious BIG should be in the Crappy Noise Hall Of Fame. What he does/did? isn’t music.
I just don’t it, why not just have other “halls of fame”
They yoked themselves to a dated name in the 80s, as part of the same cultural movement that brought us dad-rock gems like “It’s All Rock and Roll to Me” and “Old-Time Rock and Roll.” The genre distinction is silly, and it’s getting sillier as rock music becomes less of a cultural force. But the real point of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is to ride the coattails of famous, well-established musicians by acknowledging that they exist. I’m really delighted that they inducted the Cure in 2019, and while the Cure was releasing their best work in 1987 and 1989 the Hall of Fame was inducting The Temptations, Roy Orbison, the Rolling Stones, and Dion. There’s just something about the Cure reaching the same stature as Dion that kills me.
I agree. But kudos for ‘T-Rex’. Bang that gong!
More to that, when RAP first appeared, the artists took great pleasure in declaring RAP killed Rock and Roll. Well, now see where we are.
theyre just doing it to bring is a broader audience to their cause.
Listen, calling it the “I buy my music at Walmart” Hall of Fame just isn’t as catchy.
Priest still ain’t in.
I don’t even like metal, but it’s a major rock genre and one of the increasingly few still flourishing and as one of the defining acts of metal, Judas Priest should absolutely be in.
They should be in for introducing studded leather to rock and roll if nothing else!
…and I mean, like metal or not…if you are drunk at a shitty bar in the middle of nowhere and Living After Midnight comes on, your toe gonna be tappin’.
see also: Motorhead total bullshit. if you look up “rock and roll” in a dictionary, the definition should just be a picture of lemmy.
I mean, Lemmy was in love with Rock and Roll!
Nor Rage Against the Machine and The Smiths. Still great, dont care all that much.
Ditto for Iron Maiden. Though Bruce would shit all over the hall if they ever made it in, so…
Good for Depeche Mode but odd that they are in while Kraftwerk isn’t.
No thin Lizzy either. I’d add in Iron Maiden as well, but am not sure how biased I am about it.Though I also don’t really put stock into the Rock and Roll HOF, so no biggie (pun intended).
Maiden totally should be in…but Maiden was basically Priest junior, and I think the influence should go first.
Thin Lizzy should be there as well. It’s like the rock hall is scared of heavy bands 🙁
How the hell is T Rex just now being nominated? Glaring oversight.
Nothing says”the spirit of rock & roll” like Whitney Houston. Someone please tell me Tina and Etta James are already inducted.
They are. Maybe you should check your outrage and do some research. You can’t induct Whitney before those two. Oh in case you’re wondering Aretha is in.
Outrage?
Etta James was inducted back in 1993. Tina’s in with Ike, but not solo.
Tina was inducted in 1991. Etta was inducted in 1993.
Maybe Houston got in for her “rock and roll” extreme crackhead lifestyle? She was pretty notorious in the Atlanta crackhouses back in the day! She had exactly one song, on the Bodyguard soundtrack, that was even remotely “rock,” and it was just dreadful. For Houston to be inducted before a female rock pioneer like Pat Benatar is just bonkers. Shows what a meaningless institution this thing continues to be.
Im quite happy Doobie Brothers and Depeche Mode made it in.
The inductees are all great musicians but the R&R HOF needs to change its name to Pop Music HOF or something because as great as Whitney Houston was she was not a rock singer. Big Mama Thornton, on the other hand, should damn well be in the R&RHOF.
Cue a bunch of people insisting that, even though rock n roll was invented by American blacks in the ‘50s, music made by American blacks doesn’t qualify, unless it sounds like it was made by white Brits in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
I think that saying that rock and roll was invented by blacks misses the most extraordinary thing about Rock and Roll. Namely, it was created by blacks and poor whites, their two subcultures fusing together and creating an entirely new sound. What makes Rock & Roll such a transformative force is its inherent message of racial harmony. Free your ass and your mind will follow. Rock and Roll proved that.
Seriously, Chuck Berry had a hard time being accepted by black audiences in St Louis when he was starting out because they thought he was playing country. His first hit “Maybelline” is a cover of the country standard “Ida Red”. As much as people think Elvis was a white guy playing black music, Chuck Berry was a black guy playing country. Rock and Roll has always been a hybrid.
Is there a douchebag emoji I can put here so I don’t have to explain my feelings about you in long form?
Literally no one is saying that. What an odd little guilt trip to fantasize about lol.
That queue appears to be empty.I do however see a couple arguments that Hip Hop is a totally different genre than Rock.
What criteria, then, should be used to qualify music as “rock”? I can see Biggie, as he made some aggressive, angry tunes that pissed off listeners’ parents, which is very rock ‘n roll. It’s ridiculous to induct an Easy Listening/Adult Contemporary Pop singer like Houston until you’ve already inducted Barbra Striesand, Barry Manilow and Celine Dion.
So by that standard, do you also believe jazz, blues and gospel to be rock and roll?
I’m a bit salty about no Soundgarden, Superunknown is easily one of the top records of the decade and one of the great all-time albums (for me). If Pearl Jam and Nirvana make it their first time, Soundgarden should as well, if we’re going to discuss the Seattle impact on the era.
I hope Nine Inch Nails plays “Closer” in their Induction. That would be hilarious.
I will beat the drum for Thin Lizzy until my arms fall off. Also as much as I love Depeche Mode how are they & Nine Inch Nails inducted while Kraftwerk is still waiting. Speaking of injustices Joan Jett is in and Pat Benatar waits? Uh no. For all those screaming about hip hop being included it is all a part of the musical chain started back by the blues. If you want purity too bad. With the exception of notable crank Gene Simmons all other artists have been welcoming to hip hop acts. Look no further than the recently departed Neil Peart chatting with Chuck D when they both were inducted in 2013.
I’m honestly curious – I personally have no problem with rap or hip hop, but I miss what the general connection is to rock and roll. I don’t believe the Rolling Stones are in any jazz museum and rightfully so. If the museum is celebrating the phenomenon of rock and roll music, shouldn’t there be some limitation as to what that music actually is?
And yet Iron Maiden (among others) remain in the cold. What a fucking joke.
I’m glad Whitey Houston got in because she was what rock ‘n’ roll is all about. Loud, rough, sloppy, gut-bucket. Whitey Houston rocks, man.
Fine choices for the “Literally Any Kind of Music, Why Not?” Hall of Fame.
I don’t want to live in a world where Whitney Houston is in the RRHOF and Motörhead isn’t.
None of those musicians play or played rock and roll. The closest would be T. Rex and The Doobie Brothers, who played rock music; which is also a different genre, but ‘60s and ‘70s rock is a more immediate and more similar-sounding descendant of the original rock and roll than, say, industrial rock. The problem with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is that it’s named after what has long ago ceased to be a current genre. And if you try to be more inclusive by extending the definition to every genre whose origins lie in rock and roll, the lines you’ll end up drawing won’t just be contested, by this point they will necessarily look artificial at best and racial at worst. It should’ve changed its name ages ago.
None of these artists are rock other than T-Rex and Doobie Brothers? Because they play guitar, right? I remember seeing NIN live where on some songs every member but the drummer (including Reznor, Finck, Cortini, whoever I forgot was playing bass at the time) were playing guitar full out. Loud and “rock” as it fucking gets. And of course Trent sometimes smashed his. That’s fucking rock and roll.
You know what’s a guitar-centric genre? Blues. So no, that’s not why. Anyway, I differentiated between rock and roll, ‘60s and ‘70s rock (which is an umbrella term, as T. Rex sounds pretty different from The Doobie Brothers) and later forms of rock such as – and I specifically mentioned it – industrial. Tell ya what, if you can’t parse what other people are saying, feel free not to put words in their mouth.
Ok, so what you’re saying it’s not that it’s not being guitar based that’s the problem, it’s that it’s “later” forms of rock – such as industrial – instead of being rock from an earlier age? I am honestly not filleting you. And NIN/pretty much all true full-on Industrial bands say NIN isn’t Industrial. Just infused Industrial elements into music with a melody. NIN covers a bunch of different styles from what you’d call plain rock to club dance. Hell, there are some NIN songs that are full on gospel songs. Basically, I can’t tell what your criteria for “rock and roll” is. I think it’s just weather or not you like it.
When the fuck did I say I didn’t like it? Jesus, take those fanboy glasses off. Nobody’s attacking your favorite band. Go have a beer or something.
When Whitney Houston gets into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Judas Priest is left waiting at the door the idea of the place has no meaning anymore.