Uncovering the Next Generation's Hall of Fame
Using VH1's Top 100 Artists of All-Time as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Back in 1998, VH1 asked 600 musicians to list what they felt were the greatest artists of all-time. As you might expect, the list included many artists who were already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the time, but it also includes a whopping 26 artists who weren't in the Hall, but have subsequently been inducted.
There are only twelve artists from the list who are not in the Rock Hall: Nirvana, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Kiss, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Coltrane, Tina Turner, Devo, Iggy Pop, T. Rex, Carole King and Tom Waits. (Sting, Tina Turner and Carole King are already Hall of Famers, but not as solo performers.) So, when the list was created, 62 of the 100 artists were already Hall of Famers, and of the 38 that weren't, 68% were inducted within ten years. That's a pretty good track record.
We would love to see a new poll of musicians which would rank the top artists since 1980, and see how well that would predict future Hall of Famers.
Here is the complete list:
- The Beatles
- The Rolling Stones
- Jimi Hendrix
- Led Zeppelin
- Bob Dylan
- James Brown
- David Bowie
- Elvis Presley
- The Who
- The Police *
- Stevie Wonder
- Ray Charles
- The Beach Boys
- Marvin Gaye
- Eric Clapton *
- John Lennon
- Elton John
- Prince *
- Pink Floyd
- The Doors
- Aretha Franklin
- Fleetwood Mac
- The Eagles
- Bob Marley
- Van Morrison
- Chuck Berry
- Bruce Springsteen *
- Sly & the Family Stone
- U2 *
- Neil Young
- The Clash *
- Joni Mitchell
- Queen *
- Buddy Holly
- Otis Redding
- Little Richard
- Al Green
- Elvis Costello *
- Miles Davis *
- Michael Jackson *
- Janis Joplin
- Nirvana #
- Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers *
- The Jackson Five
- Crosby, Stills & Nash
- The Sex Pistols *
- Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Van Halen *
- Roy Orbison
- R.E.M. *
- B.B. King
- Cream
- Peter Gabriel #
- The Grateful Dead
- The Byrds
- The Kinks
- Steely Dan *
- Sam Cooke
- Bo Diddley
- Earth, Wind & Fire *
- Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
- Paul McCartney *
- Sting ##
- Frank Zappa
- James Taylor *
- Talking Heads *
- Kiss #
- The Allman Brothers
- Pretenders *
- Stevie Ray Vaughan #
- Rod Stewart
- Simon & Garfunkel
- Muddy Waters
- The Velvet Underground
- Curtis Mayfield
- The Bee Gees
- John Coltrane #
- Billy Joel *
- Aerosmith *
- Tina Turner ##
- The Band
- Devo #
- Iggy Pop #
- T. Rex #
- Carole King ##
- Madonna *
- Santana
- Ramones *
- Johnny Cash
- Tom Waits #
- Gladys Knight & the Pips
- The Temptations
- The Four Tops
- Diana Ross & the Supremes
- Robert Johnson
- Lynyrd Skynyrd *
- Fats Domino
- Traffic
- Parliament/Funkadelic
- Paul Simon *
* Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after 1998
# Still not a Hall of Famer; Nirvana is the only artist listed who is not yet eligible because of the 25 year rule
## A Hall of Famer, but not as a solo performer
Update: This list is now next to the "Immortals" list too.