1. This year’s performer class includes only five artists, down from the six that have been inducted in recent years. Given the backlog of deserving artists, why the reduction?
2. Was the number of inductees reduced to shorten the length of the induction ceremony?
3. If so, why did you schedule the induction ceremony at Barclays Center the day before a hockey game? The last time the ceremony was at Barclays, you had to cancel the end of show jam session because of the curfew.
4. Regarding the inducted members of Deep Purple, can you explain the rationale for how vocalist Rod Evans can be inducted but bassist Nick Simper is not, despite being in the band during the same era (1968-1969) and performing on the same albums?
5. We have our theories, but can you explain why Steve Miller has been inducted solo, with no one else from the Steve Miller Band?
6. Do bands with a complicated membership history have a disadvantage in getting nominated or inducted?
7. Who were the “experts” you used to determine which members of the inducted artists got in?
8. The official fan poll effectively ended on October 15th after you instituted limits to protect against volume voters (human or otherwise). Why was the fan poll created with no protective measures in the first place?
9. When it was determined that the fan poll had fatal flaws, why wasn’t the poll scrapped in favor of a new, secure poll?
10. Why did you create a poll with unlimited voting (that has almost zero impact on the actual results) that takes advantage of fans’ passions for their favorite artists by wasting their time?
11. Did the fan poll last year have similar unusual voting activity?
12. It has been reported that the Voting Committee was expanded this year. How many new voters were added? How many of the new voters are women? (Of the dozen or so new voters we have seen, none are women.)
13. One of the new voters this year is Howard Stern Show producer Gary Dell’Abate (aka Baba Booey). What are the qualifications for becoming an official voter?
14. Speaking of women, of the 25 people inducted in the Class of 2016, zero are women. Do you feel the Rock Hall has a gender diversity problem? If so, how do you plan to address it?
15. Some of the members of the Nominating Committee have recently complained that the Voting Committee isn’t knowledgable enough about the broad history of rock and roll, and ignores the clear wishes of the Nominating Committee (Chic is example #1). Are there plans to change the composition of the electorate (most of whom are Rock Hall inductees) that would be more in line with the Nominating Committee’s views of rock and roll?
16. Speaking of voters, how many of the over 800 ballots were actually returned this year?
17. Who counted the votes and will you release the voting totals?
18. Official ballots were due from voters on December 15th, but it seems clear that the inductees were determined and notified prior to the voting deadline. Given the reported low return rate of ballots, how could you be sure late ballots wouldn’t change the results?
19. Only inductees in the “performer” category were revealed. When will inductees in the other categories be announced?
20. The induction ceremony locations were previously going to be on three year cycles between New York, Cleveland and Los Angeles. This year was to be an L.A. year. Why was the L.A. ceremony scrapped? Are there currently plans to return to L.A.?

If you have additional questions about the Rock Hall process that go beyond the usual “why isn’t [my favorite artist] in the Rock Hall?”, leave them in the comments.

Performers:

• Cheap Trick
• Chicago
• Deep Purple
• N.W.A
• Steve Miller

Inductees will be honored at the Induction Ceremony in Brooklyn on April 8, 2016. Tickets go on sale to the public in February.

Instead of trying to forecast who the voters selected, let’s examine this from the standpoint of a television production (as Rock Hall Nominating Committee member Dave Marsh recently put it, “that tail wags that dog every year”). With that in mind, Future Rock Legends predicts the following five artists will be 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees:

• N.W.A - This is N.W.A’s fourth consecutive nomination, and the second straight year they have been the only hip hop artist on the ballot. The film based on their career, Straight Outta Compton, was a huge hit (fifth largest August opening weekend ever) and their stock will never be hotter than it is right now.
• Janet Jackson - Speaking of artists who have had a good year, Janet Jackson has enjoyed a career resurgence after releasing a critically acclaimed album and launching an arena tour. Janet also happened to finish first in our unofficial Rock Hall poll, appearing on 48% of voters ballots.
• Chicago - The Rock Hall hasn’t set the date or the venue for the 2016 induction ceremony, except to say it will be in New York in April. Chicago is touring this spring, and are scheduled to wrap up that leg of their tour at Madison Square Garden on April 18th. Hmmm... (a side note to this: Yes is beginning a UK tour on April 27th. Chic is potentially playing Coachella this year April 15-17 and 22-24. Chicago is on tour in early April. Steve Miller Band is touring extensively next year, but is on a break for all of April. If you don’t think the Rock Hall and HBO consider this stuff, you’re crazy. Never forget it’s a show to raise money for the non-profit Rock Hall Foundation. They aren’t going to induct an artist who can’t make it because they’re on tour, if they have other options available. Disinterested artists like Deep Purple are also hard to induct if the Rock Hall isn’t sure if they will show up for the ceremony.)
• Steve Miller - At the induction ceremony, the Rock Hall likes to pair up an inductee with another rock star or two for the performances (think Miley Cyrus / Joan Jett, Chris Martin / Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder / Bill Withers). Perhaps Ace Frehley can finally perform on the Rock Hall stage and join Steve Miller for a performance of “The Joker.”
• Nine Inch Nails - One of the truisms of our site is that every artist on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time is in the Rock Hall or will be when they become eligible (except for Gram Parsons -- it seems the Rock Hall forgot he hasn’t been inducted yet). Nine Inch Nails is #94 and should be inducted.
• If there are six inductees, Chic is our pick.

We conduct our own unofficial poll here which, unlike the official Rock Hall poll, requires voters to select five artists on their ballot. The results (after 2253 ballots):

1. Janet Jackson 48%
2. Chicago 46%
3. N.W.A 45%
4. Deep Purple 44%
5. Nine Inch Nails 39%
6. Chic 33%
7. The Cars 33%
8. Yes 33%
9. Steve Miller 32%
10. Cheap Trick 32%
11. The Smiths 32%
12. The Spinners 27%
13. Chaka Khan 27%
14. Los Lobos 19%
15. The J.B.’s 9%

For the record, the top five in the corrupted official Rock Hall fan poll were Chicago, Yes, The Cars, Deep Purple and Steve Miller. Rock Hall, please get it together next year. This year’s poll was an embarrassment. Also, try not to brag about the phony inflated vote totals.

One final prediction: the venue for the induction ceremony hasn’t been announced yet, but we’ll predict it will be at Radio City Music Hall this time. Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden would be difficult to book since the NHL and NBA playoffs begin in mid-April. (How long do these venues need to hold those dates? Until the teams are officially eliminated from the postseason?)

2008 Ballot

2009 Ballot

2010 Ballot

2011 Ballot

2012 Ballot

2013 Ballot

2014 Ballot

A complete look at the 2014 ballot at LinkWray.com.

2015 Ballot

2016 Ballot

Here's my yearly analysis of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominee Ballot.  Each year, the nominating committee (I refer to them as the "nomcom") select a group of acts eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Acts are eligible 25 years after their first national release.  The nominating committee is composed of rock critics, music industry executives, managers, a few musicians, one or two music historians and a few people I’m not sure who they are. . . .  Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine is Chairman of the R&RHoF, Joel Peresman is CEO of the R&RHoF Foundation, Greg Harris is CEO of the R&RHoF Museum, and Jon Landau, manager of Bruce Springsteen, is President of the R&RHoF Nominating Committee.   The Foundation oversees the Museum, the Library and Archives, the nominating and induction processes, fundraising and the induction ceremony, its biggest fundraiser. 
It seems many people define rock as “white boys playing loud”, with maybe a few exceptions that seem to prove the rule.  Many others have a broad definition of rock using one rule of thumb or another.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame uses a broad definition, pointing back to the beginning of rock in the late 40s on.  Personally, I define rock from the perspective of Alan Freed, the disc jockey who popularized the term “rock and roll” to refer to the music rather than just sex.  Freed played what we would call early R&B and doo wop, and called that “rock and roll”.  I define rock and roll as any music Freed played and any music that is derived from what Freed played.  And that covers a lot of music. . . . 
My analysis started as a reaction to many theories about who the nomcom nominates.  People have written that the nomcom nominates this type of act or that type of act.  The analysis has now grown beyond a tool of disproving theories to just being plain interesting. 
So, first, let’s look at this year’s R&RHoF nominee ballot:

*The Cars
*Cheap Trick
*Chic
*Chicago
*Deep Purple
*Janet Jackson
*The J.B.'s
*Chaka Khan (Note: this is as a soloist, not as a member of Rufus)
*Los Lobos
*Steve Miller (Note: unless the R&RHoF changes its mind, this is just Steve Miller, and not the Steve Miller Band)
*Nine Inch Nails
*N.W.A
*The Smiths
*The Spinners
*Yes

Next, let’s look at the subgenres represented. 

Note:  artists don’t like being labeled by subgenres or styles.  It’s not how they usually look at creating music, and they see it as a type of pigeon-holing that keeps people from hearing their music.  That said, fans, radio stations and retailers use subgenres or styles to help them sort through the myriads of acts to find acts that to them seem similar.  I don’t mean to offend any artists, but please understand – this is how fans view music acts.

2 – Alternative
1 – Dance pop
1 - Disco
1 - Funk
1 – Jazz rock
1 - Metal
1 – New wave
1 – Philly soul
1 – Pop rock
1 – Power pop
1 – Progressive rock
1 - Rap
1 – Roots rock
1 – Soul

Next, by members, including birthplaces. Asterisks (*) indicates members who will most likely be inducted, either because they appeared on two important recordings or because, in the case of Nine Inch Nails, they were Trent Reznor (yes, I'm blunt).... Any members not listed did not appear on a major recording. ??? indicates unknown birthplace or birthdate


The Cars
*Ric Ocasek - lead vocals, rhythm guitar (B. 23 Mar 1944 in Baltimore, Maryland)
*Greg Hawkes - lead guitar (B. 22 Oct 1952 in Fulton, Maryland)
*Elliot Easton - keyboards (B. 18 Dec 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, New York)
*David Robinson - drums (B. 24 Apr 1949 in Maiden, Massachusetts)
*Benjamin Orr - bass, lead vocals (B. 08 Sep 1947 in Lakewood, Ohio - d. 03 Oct 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia of pancreatic cancer at the age of 53)


Cheap Trick *Robin Zander- vocals, guitar (B. 23 Jan 1953, Beloit, Washington)
*Tom Petersson- bass (B. 09 May 1950, Rockford, Illinois)
*Rick Nielsen- guitar  (B. 22 Dec 1946, Elmhurst, Illinois)
*Bun E. Carlos- drums (B. 12 Jun 1950, Rockford, Illinois)
Randy “Xeno” Hogan – vocals (B. 02 May ???, Rockford,Illinois)
Ken Adamany – keyboards (birthdate ???, birthplace ???)
Stu Erikson – bass (birthdate ???, birthplace???)
Pete Comita – bass (birthdate ???, birthplace ???)
Jon Brant – bass (B. 20 Feb 1954, Chicago, Illinois)
Daxx Nielsen – drums (B. 12 Aug 1980, birthplace ???)


Chic *Bernard Edwards- bass (B. 31 Oct 1952, Greenville, North Carolina-D. 18 Apr 1996, Tokyo, Japan of pneumonia)
*Nile Rodgers- guitar (B. 19 Sep 1952, Greenwich Village, New York, New York)
*Tony Thompson- drums (B. 05 Nov 1954, Queens, New York, New York-d. 12 Nov 2003, Encino, California of kidney cancer)
*Norma Jean Wright- vocals (B. ??? in Ripley, Tennessee, R. in Elyria, Ohio)
*Luci Martin- vocals (B. 10 Jan 1955, The Bronx, New York, New York, R. in Queens, New York, New York)
*Alfa Anderson- vocals  (B. 07 Sep 1946, The Bronx, New York, New York)

Read More...

Notorious KISS antagonist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee member Dave Marsh, recently gave an interview to L.A. Radio Sessions, in which he revealed many of his frustrations with the induction process. A portion of the interview was posted on YouTube. Here is our transcript, lightly edited for clarity:

LA Radio Sessions: Let’s talk a little about the procedure, because people forget from year to year. I hear all these wide accusations that it’s all a Rolling Stone magazine Hall of Fame and this and that.

Dave Marsh: I’ve been on the Nominating Committee for more than 20 years and Jann wouldn’t have me in the magazine if I had a gun to his head. And I probably wouldn’t be in the magazine if you had a gun to my head! There are a couple of people from Rolling Stone, as there should be, in every version of the Committee, which did change shape and get a little smaller this year.

LA Radio Sessions: Can we talk about that at all?

Dave Marsh: There was a perception that it was too big and we were spending a lot of time just naming names and then voting on them and not having enough of a discussion. And the whole process… it’s actually... this is one of those moments where it’s unfair to a given individual who everybody, or almost everybody, slams all the time, because it was his perception. But that’s not anybody’s business outside of the Committee, so I can’t talk about it. I think that’s a broad enough hint. [Ed. Note: he is surely talking about Jann Wenner]

Whether you want to go out to dinner with somebody or not is irrelevant if they perceive something and help you make it better. And this is a slightly different approach and I think it’s a much better ballot than the last couple of years. Last year had a very good result off a relatively weak ballot, I think. This year, it’s much more difficult for the voters to make a mistake. And before we go any farther, let me say this, ok? This is… this is a hard thing to say, because I have a real commitment to this institution. And I think it was a wise and important thing to create it. But. The fact of the matter is, it is the only hall of fame in the world that convenes a group of experts to make its ballot and then gives the voting over to people who know less than a smidgen as much as the people who are in that room. It’s an insipid process. It really is.

That’s not the first time a Nominating Committee member has criticized the choices of the Voters, the majority of whom are Hall of Famers. Marsh seems to think that this year’s ballot is deep enough that no matter who the voters choose, it will be a solid induction class.

Dave Marsh: The first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame classes, the first couple years, there were 10, 15 people that got in… What were you going to do, say “yes” to Chuck Berry and “no” to Buddy Holly? But it’s not like there isn’t still the wealth of… some of the people are more obscure and some of the people are more controversial... and keeping the tent as big as it needs to be is a continuing problem. But in the end, doing it five people a year is just completely frustrating. And it takes something that could be really, really great. And because they pay for the event with the TV show, I guess, I’ve never been able to figure it out on any other basis, that tail wags that dog every year.

This is a startlingly frank admission from a member of the Nominating Committee, acknowledging the influence the Rock Hall’s television partners (currently HBO) have over the process.

Dave Marsh: It’s kind of heartbreaking because… one of the things that happens is simple. People die. Darlene [Love] could have died without getting in the Hall of Fame. This has been such a holocaustal year for great musicians dying, that’s really foremost in my mind. Everybody is getting older. It’s not just those early British invasion bands who have turned 70, hell, the early British invasion bands are worrying about 80! It’s a few years off, but it’s going to happen. If you were born in ‘38 or ‘39 it’s gonna happen. Sam Moore will be 80 this year. So you’re going to start losing people that you shouldn’t lose without honoring them while they’re alive. And the longer you wait, the fewer people who actually remember how great something was.

And I’ll just use, because they’re on the ballot, and because it’s been an ongoing conversation, and because it’s the strangest area where the Hall of Fame’s inductees are weak… is hard rock bands. And the notion that Deep Purple [Ed. Note: keyboardist Jon Lord died in 2012], who are a great band by any definition of rock and roll. They made record after record. I know I took them for granted for way too long. And there’s a bunch of people like that, whether it’s somebody whose style is pretty much forgotten and discarded, like Marc Bolan, who is not on the ballot, and to the best of my knowledge has never been on the ballot, but who was the spirit of rock and roll. I would say in historical terms, one of the luckiest things that ever happened to David Bowie was Marc Bolan’s car crash. I don’t mean that to say anything mean about David exactly, but Marc was just something extraordinarily special. And when you’ve got a process that won’t even let you get around to that fact, because there are other even bigger problems that have to be addressed... It’s frustrating. Not because anybody wants it to be frustrating.

Then you got the whole problem… this is something for which radio needs to be taken to task, and particularly the genuinely evil Lee Abrams period. This continuing confusion about what the relationship between white rock and black rock ought to be, or is. And make no mistake, you have to talk about it like that, they have the same root. And they travelled at some points, and the paths have diverged quite extremely, and then again they always come back together. The musicians always know what the connection is. You never have any trouble explaining that to a musician, or at least not a musician who is worth talking to. So these are the all the limits within which that ballot got created.

I say this partly because I’m tired of pretending a whole bunch of things… it’s the Cream magazine person in me that wants to say, hey, there’s right, there’s wrong. Yes, we will never agree with anything the way we all agreed on Elvis. Yes, the same thing should be true of James Brown, and it never will be. And that we need to reckon with. We also need to reckon with the fact that people think they know the history of rock and roll, and I will tell you right now, 750 people are going to get this ballot, there are not 750 people in the world, on the surface of the earth, who can adequately comprehend what has happened since 1955. It’s just simply, you know… God knows, if you stick me in with a bunch of electronic acts, or those brit-pop things from the Duran Duran period, or there’s all kinds of nooks and crannies or sometimes rivers, that missed me.

LA Radio Sessions: Right, of course. Missed all of us.

Dave Marsh: I remember talking to Jon Landau, who is one of the original rock critics who is still alive that I’m closest to, and him saying to me at a certain point, “You know, it’s all going to be different now.” And we were up to about 1966 or 1967. And I thought about it as a person who didn’t much care for what came out of San Francisco, give or take Sly and Creedence. And yeah, it’s going to be different, we’re not going to agree the way we used to. And that’s what he was thinking about too. So when we talk, yes I’m on the Nominating Committee, no, I’m not a person who agrees with everything the Nominating Committee does, or with all the ways in which it’s compelled to do its job, but at the same time, I’m very proud to be part of it. And the institution, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is not a bad idea, it’s a very good one. Because somebody needs to do this. And we need always to be criticizing ourselves and each other and having people outside the process doing the same thing.

The only thing I can add to that is that I believe this to such a point that after about six months I realized that I should have been been supporting KISS getting into the Hall of Fame all along, for the simple reason that now all those idiots have to shut the f**k up about it. [laughter] I went, “Oh, really? This all dies down? I should have voted for them!”

It’s always fascinating when Nominating Committee members speak on the record about the induction process. It is nice to hear that they can be as frustrated with the system as their critics, but it also seems clear that any major changes will have to come from the top.

To get a sense of how real fans vote (this is the 10th year of our poll!), let’s look at some vote distributions from various internet polls where you can cast a ballot for multiple artists (all results as of 10/14/2015).

First, the Future Rock Legends poll (5100 total votes, must vote for five artists):

Next, the Cleveland.com poll (7277 total votes, can vote for up to eight artists):

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Poll (4920 total votes, can vote for up to six artists):

And finally, the official Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Fan Poll (over 158 million total “votes,” can vote for up to five artists):

Rock Hall Museum President Greg Harris was touting last year’s record 59 million votes in the fan poll, which took two months. This year, they shattered that record in less than 48 hours, but examining the results, it’s not hard to wonder if there aren’t non-human hands at work. The Rock Hall failed once again to publish any rules about the poll, just urging people to “vote often.” Unfortunately, the one poll that is the easiest to game is the one that counts.

One of the reasons this is so outrageous is that there are a lot of real fans of the nominated artists who are spending a lot of time voting and urging others to vote. But they can’t compete with scripts that can cast one million votes per hour.

The Rock Hall needs to remove this poll, scrap the results, and replace it with one that is fair and secure. The first two years of the fan poll, the Rock Hall enlisted online poll professionals PollDaddy to host the poll. Beginning last year, they took the poll into their own hands which has led to nothing but erratic results (last year, Nine Inch Nails received 22% of the vote; this year, just 0.3%, which is strange to say the least).

Let’s also not forget that the lack of rules with the fan poll is symptomatic of the induction process in general. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is the only major award that doesn’t use an independent accounting firm to tally the results from their voters.

In 2011, Rolling Stone released their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All-Time, created by musicians and other experts*. (Rolling Stone originally released a list in 2003 that was just David Fricke’s picks, which is less instructive for this exercise.)

As with the other Rolling Stone lists, there are a large number of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers represented here. Just 29 of the guitarists are not in the Hall of Fame. Since this list was created four years ago, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King, Freddy King, John Frusciante, Slash, Alex Lifeson, Mike Bloomfield, and Kurt Cobain have been inducted, and Link Wray, Deep Purple and the Smiths have been nominated. That’s a pretty good run. We’ll see if it continues this year.

The full list (linked artists are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame):

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Eric Clapton
3. Jimmy Page
4. Keith Richards
5. Jeff Beck
6. B.B. King
7. Chuck Berry
8. Eddie Van Halen
9. Duane Allman
10. Pete Townshend
11. George Harrison
12. Stevie Ray Vaughan
13. Albert King
14. David Gilmour
15. Freddy King
16. Derek Trucks
17. Neil Young
18. Les Paul
19. James Burton
20. Carlos Santana
21. Chet Atkins
22. Frank Zappa
23. Buddy Guy
24. Angus Young
25. Tony Iommi
26. Brian May
27. Bo Diddley
28. Johnny Ramone
29. Scotty Moore
30. Elmore James
31. Ry Cooder
32. Billy Gibbons
33. Prince
34. Curtis Mayfield
35. John Lee Hooker
36. Randy Rhoads
37. Mick Taylor
38. The Edge
39. Steve Cropper
40. Tom Morello
41. Mick Ronson
42. Mike Bloomfield
43. Hubert Sumlin
44. Mark Knopfler
45. Link Wray
46. Jerry Garcia
47. Stephen Stills
48. Jonny Greenwood
49. Muddy Waters
50. Ritchie Blackmore
51. Johnny Marr
52. Clarence White
53. Otis Rush
54. Joe Walsh
55. John Lennon
56. Albert Collins
57. Rory Gallagher
58. Peter Green
59. Robbie Robertson
60. Ron Asheton
61. Dickie Betts
62. Robert Fripp
63. Johnny Winter
64. Duane Eddy 
65. Slash
66. Leslie West
67. T-Bone Walker
68. John Mclaughlin
69. Richard Thompson
70. Jack White
71. Robert Johnson
72. John Frusciante
73. Kurt Cobain
74. Dick Dale
75. Joni Mitchell
76. Robby Krieger
77. Willie Nelson
78. John Fahey
79. Mike Campbell
80. Buddy Holly
81. Lou Reed
82. Nels Cline
83. Eddie Hazel
84. Joe Perry
85. Andy Summers
86. J Mascis
87. James Hetfield
88. Carl Perkins
89. Bonnie Raitt
90. Tom Verlaine
91. Dave Davies
92. Dimebag Darrell
93. Paul Simon
94. Peter Buck
95. Roger McGuinn
96. Bruce Springsteen
97. Steve Jones
98. Alex Lifeson
99. Thurston Moore
100. Lindsey Buckingham

* - Here are the voters who created the list, which includes quite a few members of the Rock Hall’s Nominating Committee (highlighted with links): Trey Anastasio, Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), Brian Bell (Weezer), Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple), Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket), James Burton, Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Gary Clark Jr., Billy Corgan, Steve Cropper, Dave Davies (The Kinks), Anthony DeCurtis (Contributing editor, Rolling Stone), Tom DeLonge (Blink-182), Rick Derringer, Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), Elliot Easton (The Cars), Melissa Etheridge, Don Felder (The Eagles), David Fricke (Senior writer, Rolling Stone), Peter Guralnick (Author), Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes), Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band), Brian Hiatt (Senior writer, Rolling Stone), David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Lenny Kravitz, Robby Krieger (The Doors), Jon Landau (Manager), Alex Lifeson (Rush), Nils Lofgren (The E Street Band), Mick Mars (Mötley Crüe), Doug Martsch (Built to Spill), J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Brian May, Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Scotty Moore, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Tom Morello, Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Brendan O’Brien (Producer), Joe Perry, Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Robbie Robertson, Rich Robinson (The Black Crowes), Carlos Santana, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Marnie Stern, Stephen Stills, Andy Summers, Mick Taylor, Susan Tedeschi, Vieux Farka Touré, Derek Trucks, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Walsh, Nancy Wilson (Heart)

See Also:

• Using Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All-Time as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Using Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers of All-Time as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Using Rolling Stone's List of 100 "Immortals" as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame



Comments

Of the 100 songwriters on the list, there are just 29 who are not yet in the Rock Hall, and many of these are primarily known for country music, so they are long shots for induction anyway (Parton, Haggard, Nelson, Lynn, Kristofferson, Prine, and Hall). Ten more aren’t eligible for induction yet, but will be strong candidates in the future.

Some of the eligible artists on the list who are not in the Hall of Fame who could show up on this year’s Performer ballot are Harry Nilsson, The Smiths, Lucinda Williams, Ashford and Simpson, Björk, and the Replacements.

The full list (linked artists are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame):

1. Bob Dylan
2. Paul McCartney
3. John Lennon
4. Chuck Berry
5. Smokey Robinson
6. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
7. Carole King/Carole King and Gerry Goffin
8. Paul Simon
9. Joni Mitchell
10. Stevie Wonder
11. Bob Marley
12. Brian Wilson
13. Hank Williams
14. Bruce Springsteen
15. Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland
16. Leonard Cohen
17. Neil Young
18. Prince
19. Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry
20. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
21. Lou Reed
22. Van Morrison
23. Robert Johnson
24. Elvis Costello
25. Randy Newman
26. James Brown
27. Ray Davies
28. Woody Guthrie
29. Buddy Holly
30. Pete Townshend
31. Dolly Parton
32. Burt Bacharach and Hal David
33. Merle Haggard
34. Michael Jackson
35. Bono and the Edge
36. Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter
37. Jackson Browne
38. Al Green
39. David Bowie
40. John Fogerty
41. Max Martin
42. Sly Stone
43. Johnny Cash
44. Jimmy Webb
45. Robbie Robertson
46. Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong
47. Neil Diamond
48. Elton John and Bernie Taupin
49. Don Henley and Glenn Frey
50. Billy Joel
51. Willie Dixon
52. The Notorious B.I.G.
53. Stevie Nicks
54. Kurt Cobain
55. Tom Waits
56. Madonna
57. Joe Strummer and Mick Jones
58. George Clinton
59. Tom Petty
60. Willie Nelson
61. Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman
62. Harry Nilsson
63. Chrissie Hynde
64. Bert Berns
65. George Harrison
66. Kenny Gamble and Leon A. Huff
67. Morrissey and Marr
68. Jay Z
69. James Taylor
70. Dan Penn
71. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
72. Fats Domino and Dave Barthomolew
73. Radiohead
74. Patti Smith
75. Isaac Hayes and David Porter
76. Loretta Lynn
77. Allen Toussaint
78. Curtis Mayfield
79. Lucinda Williams
80. R. Kelly
81. Björk
82. Marvin Gaye
83. Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson
84. Kanye West
85. R.E.M.
86. Sam Cooke
87. Kris Kristofferson
88. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill
89. Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
90. Babyface
91. Eminem
92. Paul Westerberg
93. Billie Joe Armstrong
94. John Prine
95. The Bee Gees
96. Timbaland and Missy Elliott
97. Taylor Swift
98. Otis Blackwell
99. Tom T. Hall
100. Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson

On Friday, June 19th, Ed Christman from Billboard broke the story that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has let go many long-serving members of its Nominating Committee. So, what do we know so far?

Q: How many people from the Nominating Committee were let go?
A: The Billboard article’s headline says “at least 16 nominating members” were dismissed, but in the article, it is framed more as speculation from sources that “as many as 16 of the 42” members are gone. In the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chuck Yarborough spoke to an ousted member who says the letter from Jon Landau stated the Rock Hall intended “to reduce the size of the committee by a third” to allow for “more flexibility in terms of discussion.” Reducing the Committee by a third would bring it down to about 28 members.

Q: Who was let go?
A: Billboard lists four names: “veteran A&R executive Joe McEwen, a blues and R&B expert; Greg Geller, a label executive specializing in reissues; Arthur Levy, a senior writer at a number of major record labels; and Bob Merlis, one of the industry's most renowned publicists who is now independent but was at Warner Bros. Records from the early 1970s through the 1990s.” Former L.A. Times critic Bob Hilburn confirmed on Twitter that he was dismissed as well. (Roger Friedman reports that Joe Levy was also let go, but it seems possible he mixed him up with Arthur Levy.)

Q: Who is still on the Committee?
There are a lot of question marks here, but Billboard confirms that Landau, Questlove, Cliff Burnstein and Seymour Stein are still involved. It’s probably safe to assume that Museum president Greg Harris is still in. Robbie Robertson, Rick Krim, Paul Shaffer and Rob Light are all deeply involved in the Induction Ceremonies each year. Beyond that, it’s difficult to say. Hopefully more names will be confirmed soon. Here is a full list of Nominating Committee members over the last 30 years.

Q: Why did the Rock Hall target the experts on the Early Rock and R&B Influencers subcommittee?
A: Billboard frames a lot of their story around the idea that the Rock Hall “wiped out more than half of the Hall's Early Rock and R&B Influencers subcommittee.” It’s true that four of the seven members on that committee were let go, but that leaves at least 10 other members who were potentially on other subcommittees that are now gone too. As of five years ago, there were three subcommittees: one on progressive rock and heavy metal; one on hip-hop; and one on early rock and rollers and rhythm & blues.

Q: So what does this mean for future ballots? Will early rock and R&B influencers be ignored?
A: Anymore than they already are? At this point it’s impossible to say. McEwen, Geller, Levy and Merlis aren’t the only people well versed in those eras. All of them had been serving on the Nominating Committee for over 24 years. If their recommendations hadn’t been fully reflected on the ballot by now, perhaps it’s time for others to have a chance to sway the overall Committee. We have evidence in recent years that new members are more effective in getting artists onto the ballot.

Q: Does this have anything to do with artists inducted as “Early Influences”?
A: Not directly. Those artists are chosen by a separate committee. The Rock Hall hasn’t named a true “Early Influence” inductee since 2000. The three since then (Wanda Jackson, Freddie King and the “5’ Royales) were all artists who had been previously nominated on the Performer ballot.

Q: Why did the Rock Hall let go of those specific people?
A: Billboard: “But some Hall of Fame watchers worry that this latest move by Landau and Jann Wenner -- widely seen as the dominating figures in the Hall -- is meant to reduce the focus on the pioneers so that going forward the Hall can focus on artists who came to the fore in the 1980s and soon the 1990s, who might still have more cache with mainstream music fans and HBO, which broadcasts the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's show.”

Ever since HBO got involved, we have been speculating about how this may affect the inductions (more stars, bigger names).

Yarborough: “Is this really a move to get younger meat in the seats, or rather, younger rockphiles through the turnstiles, so to speak? Well, I believe it is, just by the evidence in our own back yard. . . What scares me is that it seems the history of rock 'n' roll is going to take a huge hit in exchange for pandering – yes, I said pandering – to the younger masses.”

Roger Friedman believes Jann Wenner may move the eligibility date for artists down to 20 years: “Replacing nominators with younger people who have no attachment or feel for rock origins, and moving up the eligibility means Wenner can continue to skip over acts he doesn’t like and move on to more recent stars.” More Friedman: “There’s also a theory that Wenner will now try to force in groups like Journey or Kansas so that the HBO show turns into 80s nostalgia.” (C’mon Roger, Jann Wenner forcing in Journey and Kansas? Are you insane?)

Before removing his tweets, Rob Tannenbaum speculated that the Nominating Committee cuts were potentially in retaliation for members speaking to him for his recent Rock Hall story.

Some less conspiratorial theories: Maybe these Nominating Committee members didn’t participate or couldn’t make it to the meetings. Maybe they pushed the same names year after year. Maybe they aren’t familiar with some of the more recently eligible artists.

Is any of this true? At this point, we just don’t know. Perhaps Jon Landau will speak to Billboard as he promised on Friday.

Q: Billboard, Yarborough and Friedman all paint this move as a negative for the Rock Hall. But is it really a bad thing to shuffle the deck once per decade?
A: We have long been advocates of term limits for Nominating Committee members. Each person brings their own expertise and experience to the table, but after 10 years, it’s probably time to change the dynamic in the room. Hopefully Landau and Wenner invite new people to the meeting and don’t just try to lock it down to existing members. Ideally, this would create a ballot full of previously overlooked artists who had never had a chance to be inducted before.

Q: Sound great, but will this really change anything?
A: After the 2006 inductions, the Nominating Committee went from a bloated 72 members down to 31. So how did this affect the 2007 ballot? The biggest change was the number of nominees, which dropped to nine, down from sixteen.* But of the nine nominees in 2007, six had been nominated the previous year. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

So, when the nominees get announced in October, don’t expect a ballot full of Def Leppards, Weird Als and Grandfunk Railroads. Any changes will be gradual and cautious, just like they have always been.

* - It would be interesting if the ballot contracts to only nine or ten names again to basically force the Voting Committee to induct who the Nominating Committee wants (*cough* Chic *cough*).

• 1991: Jane’s Addiction, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Living Colour
• 1992: Red Hot Chili Peppers*, Ministry, Ice Cube
• 1993: Primus, Alice In Chains, Dinosaur Jr.
• 1994: Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys*, George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars*
• 1995: Sonic Youth, Hole, Cypress Hill
• 1996: Metallica*, Soundgarden, Ramones*
• 1997: The Prodigy, Tool, Snoop Dogg
• 1998-2002: No festivals
• 2003: Jane’s Addiction, Audioslave, Incubus
• 2004: Cancelled
• 2005: Pixies, Widespread Panic, Weezer
• 2006: Red Hot Chili Peppers*, Kanye West, Death Cab for Cutie
• 2007: Pearl Jam*, Daft Punk, Muse
• 2008: Radiohead*, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West
• 2009: Depeche Mode*, Tool, The Killers
• 2010: Soundgarden, Green Day*, Lady Gaga
• 2011: Eminem, Foo Fighters*, Muse
• 2012: Red Hot Chili Peppers*, The Black Keys, Jack White
• 2013: The Cure*, Mumford & Sons, The Killers
• 2014: Eminem, Outkast, Kings of Leon
• 2015: Paul McCartney*, Metallica*, Florence + the Machine
• 2016: Radiohead*, Red Hot Chili Peppers*, LCD Soundsystem
• 2017: Muse, The Killers, Chance the Rapper, Arcade Fire
• 2018: Arctic Monkeys, Bruno Mars, The Weeknd, Jack White
• 2019: Ariana Grande, Childish Gambino, Twenty One Pilots, The Strokes
• 2020: Canceled
• 2021: Miley Cyrus, Tyler, The Creator, Post Malone, Foo Fighters*

• The Paul Butterfield Blues Band will be inducted by Peter Wolf. Tom Morello will be a part of the musical tribute.
• Green Day will be inducted by Fall Out Boy. Green Day is still working on their setlist, but hope to include something from their Lookout years.
• Bill Withers will be inducted by Stevie Wonder. John Legend and Wonder will perform a musical tribute. Withers hasn’t officially been ruled out as a performer, but it now seems highly unlikely.
• Joan Jett & the Blackhearts do not currently have a presenter. Dave Grohl has been confirmed to be a part of Jett’s performance.
• Lou Reed will be inducted by Patti Smith, who also inducted the Velvet Underground. Beck will be a part of the musical tribute to Reed.
• Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble will be inducted by John Mayer. Jimmie Vaughan, Doyle Bramhall and Gary Clark Jr. will join the members of Double Trouble for a performance, which may include “Texas Flood” and “Crossfire.”
• Ringo Starr will be inducted by Paul McCartney. Ringo does not want to put together a band, but says he will play “With A Little Help From My Friends” if McCartney organizes it. Joel Peresman says it will likely be the end of show “jam session.” Joe Walsh will perform during the tribute. Just a guess at this point, but don’t be surprised to see Dave Grohl in this part of the show as well, since he is close to McCartney and has a history with Beatles songs.
• The “5” Royales will be inducted by Steve Cropper. Fred Tanner, younger brother of John and Eugene Tanner, will accept the award. No word on if there will be a live musical tribute or who would perform.

The Induction Ceremony will be held on April 18th in Cleveland. An edited version of the show will premiere on HBO on May 30th.