The 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival lineup was announced today, and once again it is an impressive group of artists headlined by the Black Keys, Radiohead, and Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg.

Let’s take a look at the festival’s past headliners to see if they will prove to be this generation’s Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. (* = already a Hall of Famer - updated in 2021)

• 1999: Beck, Rage Against the Machine, Tool
• 2000: No festival
• 2001: Jane’s Addiction
• 2002: Björk, Oasis
• 2003: Red Hot Chili Peppers*, Beastie Boys*
• 2004: Radiohead*, The Cure*
• 2005: Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails*
• 2006: Depeche Mode*, Tool
• 2007: Björk, Red Hot Chili Peppers*, Rage Against the Machine
• 2008: Jack Johnson, Prince*, Roger Waters*
• 2009: Paul McCartney*, The Killers, The Cure*
• 2010: Jay-Z*, Muse, Gorillaz
• 2011: Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, The Strokes
• 2012: The Black Keys, Radiohead*, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg

Update:
• 2013: Blur, Stone Roses, Phoenix, Red Hot Chili Peppers*
• 2014: Outkast, Muse, Arcade Fire
• 2015: AC/DC*, Jack White, Drake
• 2016: LCD Soundsystem, Guns N’ Roses*, Calvin Harris
• 2017: Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Radiohead*
• 2018: The Weeknd, Beyoncé, Eminem
• 2019: Childish Gambino, Tame Impala, Ariana Grande
• 2020: Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott, Frank Ocean (headliners announced, but event canceled)
• 2021: Canceled
• 2022: Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott
• 2023: Frank Ocean

The only eligible artists above who haven’t been inducted yet are The Cure (nominated this year; Update: Inducted in 2019) and Depeche Mode (Update: Inducted in 2020). So, yeah, with just a few exceptions, that’s a pretty solid list of future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers (at this point in their careers, we would have to hedge a bit on the Killers, Gorillaz, Jack Johnson and Muse).

There are definitely other big American festivals which will have a similar record -- Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo come to mind -- that we will analyze soon. (Update: See Lollapalooza)