Tears for Fears

Not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Eligible since: 2007

First Recording: 1981

Previously Considered? No  what's this?

Tears for Fears
HALL OF FAME INDICATORS
🔲Rolling Stone 500 Albums
Rolling Stone 500 Songs
🔲Rolling Stone Cover
🔲Saturday Night Live
🔲Major Festival Headliner
🔲Songwriters Hall of Fame
🔲“Big Four” Grammys

R.S. Top 500 Songs (?)RankVersion
Everybody Wants to Rule the World (1985)3192021

Essential Albums (?)WikipediaYouTube
The Hurting (1983)
Songs From The Big Chair (1985)
The Seeds Of Love (1989)

Essential Songs (?)WikipediaYouTube
Mad World (1983)
Shout (1984)
Everybody Wants to Rule the World (1985)
Head Over Heels (1985)
Sowing The Seeds Of Love (1989)
Break It Down Again (1993)

Tears for Fears @ Wikipedia

Will Tears for Fears be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?
"Musical excellence is the essential qualification for induction."
Yes: 
No :


Comments

27 comments so far (post your own)

Solid second wave New Wave duo that produced one of the best album of the 1980s (Songs from the Big Chair), but their overall career doesn't merit a ticket to the HOF. Still, fans like myself will keep enjoying the great work that Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith made

Posted by Zach on Thursday, 04/25/2013 @ 01:13am


Tears For Fears made some great music. Songs From The Big Chair was a Classic.My FAV Everybody Wants To Rule The World,Shout,Head Over Heels. Just amazing songs.

I think they will fall short of induction. Just so many talented bands up for possible induction:The Cure,Duran Duran,Scorpions,Def Leppard,Bon Jovi,Iron Maiden,etc.

Enjoyed Tears For Fears songs. KING

Posted by KING on Wednesday, 02/26/2014 @ 16:11pm


Tears For Fears made some great music. Songs From The Big Chair was a Classic.My FAV Everybody Wants To Rule The World,Shout,Head Over Heels. Just amazing songs.

I think they will fall short of induction. Just so many talented bands up for possible induction:The Cure,Duran Duran,Scorpions,Def Leppard,Bon Jovi,Iron Maiden,etc.

Enjoyed Tears For Fears songs. KING

Posted by KING on Wednesday, 02/26/2014 @ 17:09pm


TFF is an interesting case. Not given the credit they deserve. Some of the best music of the 80's in some respects. 'Songs From The Big Chair' is just brilliant from start to finish, ambitious and inventive. That being said, they never matched it and did not fulfill their promise. So I agree, they fall short of HOF. They had the potential though.

Posted by dezmond on Wednesday, 02/26/2014 @ 17:20pm


Fav Tears For Fears song Everybody Wants To Rule The World. They would definitely considered good or great in the 80's but the RRHOF would be a tougher sell. Probably needed 2 more powerhouse albums to make the HOF. Songs like Pale Shelter and Sowing The Seeds Of Love are also worth checking out. Loved the ending solo Everybody Wants To Rule The World. KING

Posted by KING on Monday, 05/18/2015 @ 16:46pm


Saw TFF (opening for Hall & Oates) last week, and it was definitely a thrill for me. The two men looked and sounded great. Oddly, the biggest cheers they got were when they covered Radiohead's "Creep". Another odd thing was the show opened (as the band entered the stage) with Lorde's cover of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" before they did their own. Great show, as well as Hall & Oates' set.

Posted by Jason Voigt on Monday, 05/15/2017 @ 15:41pm


I can't even begin to understand anyone here who doesn't think these guys should be in the Hall Of Fame. Even if you're not be a fan of their music their influence and contributions to music are undeniable. The Hurting was one of the greatest debut albums of that era.

Posted by Eddie avakian on Friday, 12/6/2019 @ 21:55pm


Never cared for them, personally. Slick, bloated, interminable songs about "the pain". They're basically Toto with an added helping of self-pity.

Influenced a generation of truly dreadful navel-gazers as well (Disturbed, Smashing Pumpkins, Mansun etc).

Posted by Gustuf on Saturday, 02/29/2020 @ 11:27am


Quite liked them in the early 80s when they were basically an overproduced OMD ("duo" presentation, alternating lead vocals, gloomy synth-based sound, crazy dancing). From there they just made increasingly overblown attempts to replicate 'Sgt. Pepper'. An okay but endlessly derivative band, about whom nothing screams "Hall of Fame".

Posted by Leslie Dresden on Thursday, 05/7/2020 @ 14:13pm


When they hit they soared, bands are in RRHOF for having done less. Time for TFF and Maiden to get in

Posted by Jim on Saturday, 06/27/2020 @ 23:39pm


Tears For Fears

1. Roland Orzabal (1981-Present; Vocals, Guitar)
2. Curt Smith (1981-Present; Vocals, Bass)
3. Ian Stanley (1981-1987; Keyboards)
4. Manny Elias (1981-1986; Drums, Percussion)

Posted by Roy on Thursday, 09/10/2020 @ 08:06am


Okay, the derivative accusation is just a false narrative and I can't take being silent about it any longer after having heard this about a truly great ROCK band. No one should be able to say it, just to say it, and then try to will it into existence. It simply is not true. Derivative by definition means I should clearly know who the sound is emulating when I hear them. Like Greta Van Fleet being derivative of Led Zeppelin (who, by the way, could be labeled as derivative as well due to their lifting of so many other sounds that were not their own) is a good example. I'd go as far as to say Stone Temple Pilots is a derivative sound of Alice in Chains as so far as when one begins it's hard to tell where the other one ends. However, I believe they both have a place in the Hall of Fame.

NOW. Let's take that in context to TFF. Shout comes on the radio. You think of... who? How about Woman in Chains? A song thats complexities and vocal range can only have attribution to a single band. A song well ahead of its time with tackling subjects that are still being battled today. It wasn't until the middle of the 90s that songs with those same messages began to invoke change in society; heavily influenced by leads like Cobain, Vedder and Cornell.

And then there's the very unique sound of Mad World. There was nothing and still is nothing like it. Gary Jules recognized the underlying brilliance of the song, picked it up and created a chilling version that proves it can hold up under the weight of a remake and still retain the original intent of the band's version. And when you are being recognized by semi-current artists like Lordes who remake your music, it means your band is the one who influenced the next generation (and the next!).

So please pick another word for Tears for Fears as the word derivative is an insult to a band that worked hard for their success and earned their place among the great bands of the 80s and absolutely DESERVE to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Posted by Rob on Friday, 09/18/2020 @ 00:04am


Looks like the previous poster can't handle people having viewpoints that differ from his. Pushing your opinion in the style of music review hyperbole doesn't negate anyone else's.

That said, Tears made at least two really good albums, one of which was a huge seller in the States. They probably have enough recognition and influence to get in sometime in the next decade.

Posted by Jim on Tuesday, 10/27/2020 @ 23:38pm


@Rob - To suggest that "Mad World" had no musical precedent is patently absurd. Roland Orzabal openly admits that his musical intentions were rock-oriented, until he became aware of acts like OMD, Japan and Human League. Graduate were a *guitar* band, then Orzabal swiftly reinvented himself as a sullen electro artist, jumping on the synthpop bandwagon. Brooding, introspective songs played on synths and drum machines, were around two years before TFF, I'm afraid.

"Shout" had no precedent either? Ha! Orzabal and Smith are on record saying it's based it on John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance". Both percussion-heavy protest songs, with many choruses. "Woman in Chains" was inspired by TFF hero Peter Gabriel's duet with Kate Bush, "Don't Give Up", as well as Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight". Collins has spoken about how he was specifically brought in to replicate the big feel of his song's crescendo. And let's not forget "Sowing the Seeds of Love": TFF scored one of their signature hits by intentionally, blatantly aping 'Sgt. Pepper'-era Beatles.

None of this is to say TFF didn't do some good work, but they absolutely weren't original, and they flagrantly ransacked the work of acts who actually innovated and started musical movements. Derivative? Very much so.

Posted by Leslie Dresden on Saturday, 11/21/2020 @ 06:04am


Meh. I own(ed) everything they've done, and all I get from it is a few decent early-mid 80s radio hits, and a bunch of indulgent meandering dressed up as cleverness. The musicianship was actually pretty standard, and the ingenuity extremely low. On top of that, their proven-nonsense Janovian psychoanalysis is deeply embarrassing.

Basically they've built a legacy on posturing, Curt's good looks, and a few fluke good singles. Goth schoolkids and armchair psychologists everywhere ate it up. Hey, congratulations to them, they've outsold all the great bands they pilfered.

Posted by Jon on Thursday, 03/25/2021 @ 07:56am


Tff does deserve to be in the rock and roll hall of fame..there a great band from the 80s and still are..there deserve to have this honor

Posted by Christine Miller on Sunday, 03/28/2021 @ 19:06pm


Few bands annoy me as much as Tears for Fears, and that's probably because of their super-annoying, obsessive fanbase. What have TFF ever really done? They made two good records a looooong time ago. They rode musical waves rather than start them. They never influenced anyone of note.

The only reason this band could ever be held up as "great" is because their delusional fanboys endlessly push them as such. Those obsessive folks really should listen to 'Gabriel 3', 'Remain in Light' and first wave British synth-pop to see where TFF stole all their ideas.

Posted by Levren on Saturday, 12/4/2021 @ 18:16pm


@Levren
whatever you are smoking please share it. Musicians like Dave Grohl, the weekend and Weezer want to perform with them. The first 3 albums made number one they only started to decline after the break up. No other band in the early 80's touched on the topics they sung about where other bands like Wham, Spandau Ballet all sang cheesy love songs. Not many artists can mach the Roland's voice, writing and guitar talent.

Posted by Joe on Saturday, 01/15/2022 @ 21:47pm


Both TFF and Depeche mode are brilliant !
The wealth of talent on display is
Simply wonderful.
We are all so very fortunate to a part of that audience.
And regarding Pop or rock...
I don't give a dam if we are talking about Tears for Fears or Depeche mode, or The Cure or Puccini's "Turandot", or the Beatles, or Aaron "Copeland's Appalachian Spring",
Or mussorgsky's "pictures at an expedition" or Emerson lake and Palmer's "pictures at an exhibition".......
If it's good...... IT ROCKS !
...Just sayin'

Posted by Gafferboy38 on Monday, 03/7/2022 @ 16:49pm


Tears For Fears is played on Rock radio. Depeche Mode is not.

Posted by Harlo on Friday, 03/18/2022 @ 18:37pm


Harlo

What are you talking about? Personal Jesus is a corner stone of rock radio, Enjoy the Silence too maybe.

Posted by mat r on Saturday, 03/19/2022 @ 00:40am


Tears For Fears

1. Roland Orzabal (1981-Present; Vocals, Guitar)
2. Curt Smith (1981-Present; Vocals, Bass)
3. Ian Stanley (1981-1987; Keyboards)
4. Manny Elias (1981-1986; Drums, Percussion)

STUDIO ALBUMS

1. 1983 - The Hurting
2. 1985 - Songs From The Big Chair
3. 1989 - The Seeds Of Love
4. 1993 - Elemental
5. 1995 - Raoul And The Kings Of Spain
6. 2004 - Everybody Loves A Happy Ending
7. 2022 - The Tipping Point

Posted by Roy on Friday, 05/13/2022 @ 05:56am


Tears For Fears was a band, not a duo. The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame better remember that!

Tears For Fears

1. Roland Orzabal (1981-Present; Vocals, Guitar)
2. Curt Smith (1981-Present; Vocals, Bass)
3. Ian Stanley (1981-1989; Keyboards)
4. Manny Elias (1981-1986; Drums, Percussion)

Posted by Roy on Sunday, 05/15/2022 @ 05:07am


Hadn't really considered them to be Rock Hall candidates because of a relatively short discography. However, I've changed my mind with the release of the Tipping Point, an album of distinct merit from artists who still have what it takes 40 years later

Posted by Eric Tompkins on Tuesday, 05/24/2022 @ 18:37pm


To all you haters do your homework before you talk rubbish tff are still producing no one albums the tipping point both sides of the Atlantic nothing more to be said if I had to go through all there albums ever released all charted more than half of them both sides of the Atlantic no 1 sell out world tours touring since 2004 they have sold at least 35m albums when they play at festivals no matter who is playing tears for fears are always the best live act bar none the have had more hit singles than most bands around the world and to this day a still relevant people may not like them but their music speaks for its self .

Posted by Dangerous Danny on Monday, 10/17/2022 @ 09:07am


EVERYBODY WANTS......Tears For Fears to be inducted into the rock & roll hall of fame.

SOWING THE SEEDS......Of induction to THE rock& roll hall of fame.

Posted by Jason Marley on Tuesday, 11/22/2022 @ 16:03pm


Roland is a sad old drunkard who needs a haircut. The guy hasn't written a decent tune in 35 years. I do like their early stuff but... Hall of Fame worthy? Eh!?

Posted by Riley on Sunday, 03/26/2023 @ 18:55pm


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Future Rock Legends is your home for Tears for Fears and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including year of eligibility, number of nominations, induction chances, essential songs and albums, and an open discussion of their career.


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