Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, and more inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, and Kate Bush are among the next class of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honorees
Aux News Willie Nelson
School will soon be out for summer, but there’s a new class coming in. That’s this year’s inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a class of 13 iconic artists who will join the annals of music history on November 3. The list includes a range of performers from genres not strictly what one might consider “rock & roll,” including Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, Kate Bush, and more.
“This year’s incredible group of Inductees reflects the diverse artists and sounds that define rock & roll,” John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter). “We are honored that this November’s Induction Ceremony in New York will coincide with two milestones in music culture; the 90th birthday of Willie Nelson and the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop.”
Nelson, Elliott, and Bush are all being inducted in the performer category, alongside Cheryl Crow, Sheryl Crow, George Michael, Rage Against the Machine, and The Spinners. Sykes noted to Variety that Bush has “been nominated many times,” but “Sometimes it takes a major moment like Willie’s 90th birthday or, in the case of Kate Bush, music being played in Stranger Things to shine a light on them for a lot of younger people who didn’t know who she was in 1985; they probably weren’t even born yet.”
DJ Kool Herc and guitarist Link Wray are being inducted with the honor of the Music Influence Award, while songwriters Al Kooper and Bernie Taupin, as well as Chaka Khan, will receive the Musical Excellence Award. Khan has been on the ballot seven times previously, which Sykes told Variety was part of the reason to elevate her to this category. “Because if someone’s been nominated so many times, but there’s a disconnect between the nominating committee and the general ballot, after it’s been five or six times, then we realize that there’s such a strong belief in them by the nominating committee that we can honor them.”
Finally, the Ahmet Ertegun Award—so named for the co-founder of Atlantic records and given to “non-performing industry professionals”—will be bestowed upon the late Don Cornelius, host and producer of the beloved dance and music show Soul Train. The induction ceremony will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, with a new media partner expected to be named after the event’s contract with HBO recently expired, per Variety.
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Nelson, Elliott, and Bush are all being inducted in the performer category, alongside Cheryl Crow, Sheryl Crow, George Michael, Rage Against the Machine, and The Spinners. It must be weird for Sheryl Crow to be inducted along with her evil twin sister Cheryl whom she hasn’t spoken with in decades.
I love Cheryl Crows big hit “No Day is a Straight Path”.
I was always partial to “Radiate the Moonbeams.”
I’m partial to “Definitely Makes you Sad”.
Cheryl is the one who collaborated with Kid Rock, right?
Kidd Rock.
She forms the Evil Goatee triumvirate of alternate universe 90s rock bands, alongside The White Crowes and Spelling Crows.
Was she the one who was once in a relationship with professional cyclist Lance Armstring?
But “Thursday Afternoon Band Practice” is clearly the better album.
Wait until Carol Crow hears about all this.
But Cheryl died years ago!
I always assumed Willy Nelson had already been inducted. And he probably did too.
Some of these inductees are pretty fuckin’ suss considering Joy Division/New Order, Iron Maiden, Cyndi Lauper, Soundgarden, and the White Stripes were all nominated.
If you aren’t listening to the hottest podcast of 2023 “Guys: With Bryan Quinby” I suggest checking out the episode on Classic Rock Guys. Those dudes take the Rock N Roll HoF really seriously and they are not happy when non rock people get in like Missy Elliot and Willie Nelson. It’s hilarious how worked up they get over a mediocre museum in Cleveland. I myself am a little bummed that Warren Zevon didn’t get in despite Billy Joel’s campaigning if only because it would have been cool to hear him cover some of Zevon’s songs. Billy Joel singing Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner or Poor Poor Pitiful Me would have been pretty neat.
Those dudes take the Rock N Roll HoF really seriously and they are not happy when non rock people get in like Missy Elliot and Willie Nelson.
It’s a fair argument to make, though. The Hip Hop Hall of Fame isn’t going to induct Judas Priest, and neither is the Country Hall of Fame, so why is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducting Missy Elliot? Last year they inducted Eminem. LL Cool J is in there, too. The Hockey Hall of Fame won’t induct Ken Griffey, Jr. (and they shouldn’t), so why is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducting non-rock artists?
You could make a case that rock has always incorporated elements of R&B, which evolved into today’s pop and rap acts to some extent. Nobody complained when the Motown folks got in and they mostly weren’t classic rock acts. I admit country, even if it was influential in rock’s early years, I’d a bigger stretch.
They’re all out of rock artists?
There’s definitely some notable rock acts who aren’t in like the nominated but not chosen Soundgarden and Iron Maiden. But eligibility goes back 25 years and they are getting to the point when the most obvious popular and influential acts won’t be traditional rock ones.
It is a fair argument to make if you just focus on the name being “The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame”. But in practice, the R&RHOF became a general music hall of fame long ago. I mean, they had people like Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye in some of their first classes and I wouldn’t say they were “rock”.
Then they should change the name.
I don’t know. I think I can understand where someone might be annoyed that an institution ostensibly founded to explore and celebrate the history of your specific area of interest seems less and less interested in that area of interest.I think there’s a case to be made that the whole concept of a rock and roll hall of fame (or any musical/artistic hall of fame) is a bit silly. But as long as there is a rock and roll hall of fame, I can see where people who identify as rock fans would be bothered that it’s looking more outside their favorite genre these days than within it.
That is the big disappointment for me. I’m glad Kate Bush made it in, probably due to Stranger Things, but I’d replace her with Zevon in a heartbeat.
I mean, I could give a shit, and most of the people I see bitching are just being racist (the hip-hop inductees seem to elicit a lot more vitriol than, say, Willie Nelson) but why bother calling it “Rock and Roll”? Just call it the “Music Hall of Fame”, or something.
This would be the best solution. If you’re gonna insist on honoring artists “outside the genre,” then don’t keep the honor’s designation “restrictive.”
NO CYNDI LAUPER IN THE HALL OF FAME, NO PEACE!!Congratulations to the inductees though
Seriously how the hell did Crow get in before Lauper? She was also like #2 on the fan vote.
I actually like almost everyone they are inducting, but Cyndi deserved it more than probably any of them IMO. I don’t get it. She is more “rock and roll” than almost any of them too though she is versatile Well it is their loss. She would have livened up the induction ceremony for sure too
I’m glad Kate Bush made it and Missy Elliot deserved to be there before Eminem. That’s just weird they snubbed Lauper like that.
I just found out Gordon Lightfoot isn’t in either. Cohen, Mitchell and Dylan are. This is beyond unacceptable!
Al Kooper should be inducted in the “Sneaking Into Famous Peoples’ Sessions and Quitting Every Band He Helped Found” category.
Hi, Team. Passing along a link to last year’s discussion on the same topic. Key points and takeaways are covered in the doc. Hopefully we can keep this meeting short and efficient and give time back if possible. Thanks. Email if you have any questions![link]https://www.avclub.com/2022-rock-hall-of-fame-nominees-dolly-parton-eminem-bec-1848465974[/link]
[X-posting this, sorry. My love for Kate Bush cannot be contained in one comments section.]Kate Bush is so great. The best part of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) charting is that a whole new generation has been introduced to her work, and there’s so much more to enjoy, on so many levels.She’s a polymath — which is pretty rare in pop music to begin with — and has mastered a wild array of different artforms. Whatever you’re seeing or hearing has almost always been created by her. She composes, produces, choreographs, dances, directs, performs… the list goes on an on. Legend — well-deserved induction.P.S. I also love that Pink Floyd heard her demos when she was 16 and basically gave her free reign of their studio, and then arranged for her to get signed to EMI under a very favourable contract:https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-gilmour-pink-floyd-discovered-kate-bush/
I was lucky enough to get a ticket for her run of concerts in 2014. For the “Ninth Wave” section (side 2 of the Hounds of Love album) “reality” was shown on screen, while she acted/sang the hallucination parts on stage. On screen they showed this, which is Kate, singing in a film studio water tank. You can hear the shiver in her voice, and it was unsurprising to hear she gave herself mild hypothermia doing it.
Sublime. That must have been some show!
It was!
Bah, if this isn’t worthy of a repost, nothing is. CliffsNotes: game recognize game, and Kate Bush defies genres.
This is a great BBC documentary with Annie Clarke, John Lydon, Tori Amos, Elton John and many more gushing about her.
Rage Against the Machine is being inducted?Paul Ryan approves.
Now that they’re getting this recognition, will they reconsider their position on doing what they are told?
Not the worst class ever, but no Iron Maiden or Joy Division sucks.
Feels like Joy Division/New Order should be a twofer.
Just change the name to the “Popular Music Hall of Fame.”
They used to be synonymous, but then boomers’ musical hegemony waned — after waxing for decades — and now we’re stuck with the name.
Only one actual rock act among the main group? I don’t mind the other acts going in necessarily, but I think they are starting to lose the plot. If they want to put more women in they can start with Fanny, who opened the door that the Go-Go’s and the Bangles ran through, give them the Music Influence Award also. I am glad to see Link Wray going in, while being shocked that he wasn’t put in decades ago. He’s a HUGE influence. ask Jimmy Page or Dave Davies.Other women that should be in: The Shangri-La’s were every bit as good as the Ronettes and the Shirelles, and quite frankly they should have all been inducted together, but they should induct them now.And the last longstanding snub: The MC5. Any punk band or punk influenced band lists them as a main inspiration, ask Henry Rollins or any of those guys, like the Rage guys. I love Iggy Pop, but if the Stooges are in, the MC5 should have gone in at the same time… They are twin titans in punk rock history.
I have long since stopped caring about the “Rock and Roll” part of the title.
For me, the criteria is this:
– Are you a musician who has been performing for a certain amount of time?
– Did you drastically alter the pop culture landscape with your music? Did you spawn new clothing trends? Late night sketches? Did large, mainstream bands form because they were inspired by you?
– If I were ever to go to Cleveland again, would it be fun to see your various costumes/instruments/original lyrics/etc. on display?