The 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

Update: Click Here for the 2007 Inductees!

The 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees were finally announced, approximately six weeks later than usual. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation has reduced the size of its Nominating Committee "to move things along quicker," but it also unexpectedly reduced the number of nominees. Typically, fifteen artists are nominated and six or seven are inducted each year, however this year there are only nine nominees. No word on whether the number of inductees will also be lowered. [Update: there will reportedly be five inductees this year.]
Future Rock Legends correctly predicted five of the nine nominees for 2007.

Much more on the 2007 nominations in the FRH Blog.

Here are your official 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees (all quotes from the official press release):

Update: Click Here for the 2007 Inductees!

• R.E.M. "was the first underground American band from the 1980s' "indie" scene to break through and find mainstream success. Their 1981 cult hit "Radio Free Europe" was an entirely new kind of pop song -- jangly, distorted, lo fi, but still melodic and even delicate. The unique sound of their first album, 1983's "Murmur" on IRS Records, was the beginning of the multiplatinum band's emergence as leader of the U.S. alternative scene of the '80s and '90s."
  Current Induction Chances: 89%
  
  
• Van Halen "was the 1980s' biggest hard-rock success story, with brothers Alex and Eddie Van Halen emerging as drum and guitar virtuosos, featuring the most bombastic, outrageous frontman since Mick Jagger in David Lee Roth. Van Halen played metal-tinged rock and roll with a fun, sexy swagger, and their 1978 self-titled debut album sold 10 million copies, featuring a genre-changing guitar solo on "Eruption." Van Halen continued to chart through the 1990s."
  Current Induction Chances: 74%
  
  
• Patti Smith "is considered the Godmother of Punk, and her cerebral, poetic, raggedly emotional music is both utterly unique and very much of a certain time and place in music history. The time and place were lower Manhattan's grimy streets in the early 1970s, where Patti was a contemporary of bands like Television and the Voidoids and artists like Robert Mapplethorpe and Andy Warhol."
  Current Induction Chances: 69%
  
  
• The Stooges "came out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, but they were quickly adopted by Detroit rockers the MC5, who recognized their incendiary garage-rock sound and proto-punk sensibility. With songs like "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "Search and Destroy," the Stooges' intensity, especially that of frontman Iggy Pop, has rarely been rivaled. An international sensation, the Stooges made only three studio albums, but they influenced hundreds of bands to come."
  Current Induction Chances: 65%
  
  
• Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five "were the greatest innovators of hip-hop's formative era beginning in the late 1970s. Grandmaster Flash himself is considered the first to develop most DJ techiniques, from cutting to back-spinning to phasing on the wheels of steel. Teaming with the Furious Five's influential MCs, such as Melle Mel and Cowboy, the group released a series of seminal rap tracks, incorporating soul, r&b, funk, punk, new wave, hard rock, and glam."
  Current Induction Chances: 54%
  
  
• The Ronettes "timeless Girl Group anthems have at times been overshadowed by the personal drama and history of the group's connection (and leader Ronnie Bennett's marriage) to Phil Spector. But the Ronettes' music, made in just three years from 1963 to 1966, is nearly perfect on its own, with no backstory. Megahits like "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You" were instant classics, and remain as compelling today as when they were first released, inspiring the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys to become fans."
  Current Induction Chances: 55%
  
  
• Chic "was a pioneering New York jazz-funk group led by writers and producers Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, who brought refined musicianship and rhythmic innovation to 1970s disco. They also laid the foundation for hip hop, with their song "Good Times" providing the music for the groundbreaking hit "Rapper's Delight." Rodgers and Edwards went on to write and produce some of the '80s' biggest pop songs for Madonna, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, and others."
  Current Induction Chances: 48%
  
  
• The Dave Clark Five "were the British Invasion's most popular band, with more appearances on the Ed Sullivan show than the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. From 1965 to 1968, they had 17 Top Forty hits, including the iconic pop song "Glad All Over." They were known for a bigger production sound than their peers and a slick, pure melodic sensibility. Despite disbanding in 1970, the Dave Clark Five have sold more than 50 million records worldwide to date."
  Current Induction Chances: 49%
  
  
• Joe Tex "was the first soul musician to cross over and have a pop hit with his 1965 song "Hold What You've Got." Joe Tex was one of Atlantic Records' most talented artists, and he scored more than two dozen consecutive pop/r&b crossover hits through 1969. Tex's songs were covered by James Brown, Percy Sledge, Johnny Cash, the Animals, Etta James, Elvis Costello and many others."
  Current Induction Chances: 34%
  
  

Update: Click Here for the 2007 Inductees!

The Rock Hall voting committee will now determine the winners, which will be announced at a press conference on January 8th. The inductees will be honored at the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony on March 12th, 2007.

Artists are eligible for the Rock Hall 25 years after releasing their first record.

* The "Current Induction Chances" represent the artist's odds of ever being inducted into the Hall of Fame, as calculated by Future Rock Legends and its users.

This site is not affiliated in any way with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.
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