The latest issue of Rolling Stone has a wrap up article about the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. There are some interesting quotes from some of the attendees regarding the future of the Rock Hall (the article is not currently posted online).

Pearl Jam bought a table at the ceremony so they could watch The Stooges finally get inducted after being nominated eight times. Some quotes from Eddie Vedder:

"The Stooges are exactly what the Hall of Fame needs more of... [They are] the true embodiment of rock & roll... One can only hope that the voting committee starts boning up on their Black Flag, X, Sonic Youth and Fugazi to keep it going in the right direction... Iggy's speech was right on. Appreciative, but delivered with the back of his hand. If it hadn't taken so many years, Ron Asheton would've been there."

Vedder has his eye towards the future of the Rock Hall, hoping the bands that influenced him will get inducted before he does (Pearl Jam is first eligible for the 2017 induction ceremony). Vedder also calls out the Rock Hall's 500+ member voting committee which consists of people in the music industry, including the past inductees. And this is where the generational rub comes to a head. In this same Rolling Stone article, it casually mentions that the members of Genesis "had barely heard Phish's music" when they were told Phish would be inducting them at the ceremony. These same members of Genesis are now Rock Hall voters. This isn't to suggest that the members of Genesis aren't qualified to vote for the Rock Hall, it's just that they apparently don't connect with a later generation of artists, even one as huge as Phish. And unlike the Nominating Committee, which at least attempts to get younger by occasionally adding new members, the Voting Committee will always be dominated with aging rock stars who likely prefer their peers and influences rather than their followers.

One last nugget from this article that we didn't catch in the ceremony: It mentions that Paul Shaffer, the musical director for the Rock Hall ceremonies, was "honored for his 25 years of Hall of Fame service." Well deserved.

With the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony just around the corner, it's time to predict who the presenters might be. Here are our picks:

• The Stooges :: Patti Smith
• Genesis :: Chris Martin
• ABBA :: Elvis Costello
• Jimmy Cliff :: Mick Jones
• The Hollies :: Steven Van Zandt

What do you think? Leave your predictions in the comments.

The 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees are: ABBA, Genesis, The Hollies, Jimmy Cliff and The Stooges.

The induction ceremony will take place on March 15, 2010 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The ceremony will be again be broadcast by the Fuse Network.

This year, there are twelve nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and just five of them will be inducted. We've done the math, and there are 792 different combinations possible of the five inductees. Here are the five we're predicting will be honored on March 15th:

• KISS: Yes, one of the biggest Rock Hall snubs will likely be rectified this year.
• The Hollies: After waiting 20 years to get nominated, Graham Nash's first band will probably get in on their first try.
• ABBA: One of the biggest bands in the world will get in this year. They were nominated in 2003, but the competition was stiffer then.
• Darlene Love: Only 19% of our voters put her on their ballots, but our voters probably didn't get personally lobbied by Bruce Springsteen. This feels similar to the Ronettes nomination in 2007.
• Genesis: If Genesis gets inducted, they will be the first prog rock act inducted since Pink Floyd in 1996.

We're predicting that the Red Hot Chili Peppers, LL Cool J, Laura Nyro, Donna Summer, The Stooges, Jimmy Cliff, and The Chantels will all have to try again next year.

Over 2400 Future Rock Legends voters cast their ballots in the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame poll. The top five vote getters are Genesis (on 69% of ballots), ABBA (65%), KISS (63%), The Stooges (55%), and Red Hot Chili Peppers (55%). [The last two years, FRL voters have accurately predicted three out of the five inductees.]

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will announce the official 2010 inductees soon. Keep checking Future Rock Legends for all of the latest Rock & Roll Hall of Fame news. You can also follow us on Twitter.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame expert Charles Crossley, Jr. offered up his analysis of the 2010 nominees over on his message board.

So, let's break up these nominees and examine them based on different criteria, with an emphasis on the criteria people have claimed in the past made a difference about who gets nominated. First, by subgenre:

1 pop/rock act (ABBA)
1 vocal harmony act (The Chantels)
1 reggae act (Jimmy Cliff)
1 prog act (Genesis)
1 folk rock act (The Hollies)
1 metal/hard rock act (KISS)
1 rap act (LL Cool J)
1 girls group act (Darlene Love)
1 singer-songwriter (Laura Nyro)
1 alternative funk act (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
1 proto-punk act (The Stooges)
1 disco act (Donna Summer)

So, this year, like last year, each nominee represents a distinctly different subgenre of rock.

Next, by members. Question marks (?) wonders if these members will be added. Any members not listed will not be inducted:

ABBA (Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Anderssen, Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyndstag)

The Chantels (Arlene Smith, Sonia Goring, Rene Minus, Jackie Landry, Lois Harris)

Jimmy Cliff (himself)

Genesis (Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips (?), John Phillips (?), John Mayhew (?), Phil Collins, Steve Hackett)

The Hollies (Graham Nash, Allan Clarke, Anthony Hicks, Eric Haydock (?), Robert Elliott, Bernard Calvert, Terry Sylvester, Mikael Rikfors (?))

KISS (Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, Eric Carr (?), Vinnie Vincent (?), Mark St. John (?), Bruce Kulick (?), Eric Singer (?))

LL Cool J (himself)

Darlene Love (herself)

Laura Nyro (herself)

Red Hot Chili Peppers (Flea, Jack Irons (?), Anthony Keidis, Hillel Slovak (?), Jack Sherman (?), Cliff Martinez (?), John Frusciante, Chad Smith, Dave Navarro (?))

The Stooges (Iggy Pop, Ron Asheton, Dave Alexander, Scott Asheton, James Williamson)

Donna Summer (herself)

Next, by previous inductions. Clyde McPhatter was the first person to be inducted more than once into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as a soloist and as a member of the first incarnation of the Drifters. So, when someone is inducted more than once, we say he has joined the Clyde McPhatter club. So, notice the name in bold above? Poised to join the Clyde McPhatter club this year is:

Graham Nash, who is a member of the Hollies, and who was previously inducted with Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1997.

Next, by race:

White: 6, possibly 7
ABBA, Genesis, the Hollies, KISS, Laura Nyro and the Stooges. Possibly Red Hot Chili Peppers unless Cliff Martinez or Dave Navarro are inducted with them.

Black: 5 The Chantels, Darlene Love, Jimmy Cliff, LL Cool J and Donna Summer

Mixed: possibly 1
Possibly Red Hot Chili Peppers if Cliff Martinez or Dave Navarro are inducted with them.

Next, by gender:

Male: 28 at least and maybe up to 43, depending if any of the members with question marks by their names are inducted.

Women: 9

Next, by nationality based on place of birth:
One Australian (Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers)
One, possibly two, Israelis (Gene Simmons of KISS and Hillel Slovak of Red Hot Chili Peppers)
One Jamaican (Jimmy Cliff)
Four, possibly five Swedes (All the members of ABBA and Mikael Rikfors of the Hollies) Eleven, possibly sixteen, Brits
The rest were born in the United States of America, and by and large most of them were born in one of the burroughs of New York.

Next, by the number of top 40 hits on the Billboard 100:

ABBA: 14
The Chantels: 4
Jimmy Cliff: 2
Genesis: 17
The Hollies: 12
KISS: 9
LL Cool J: 14
Darlene Love: 2, unless you count all the hits she recorded with the Blossoms under other names
Laura Nyro: Of course not; that's why everybody else had hits with her songs!
Red Hot Chili Peppers: 7
The Stooges: 0
Donna Summer: 20

Next, by dead members. Currently, there are 5, maybe 6:

The Chantels (Jackie Landry)
KISS (if they include Eric Carr)
Laura Nyro
The Stooges (Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton)
Red Hot Chili Peppers (Hillel Slovak)

Next, by number of years eligible:

ABBA, 10th year of eligibility
The Chantels, 27th year of eligibility
Jimmy Cliff, 21st year of eligibility
Genesis, 16th year of eligibility
The Hollies, 21st year of eligibility (a cover of the Coasters' "Searchin'")
LL Cool J, 1st year of eligibility
Darlene Love, 21st year of eligibility
Laura Nyro, 18th year of eligibility
Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1st year of eligibility
The Stooges, 16th year of eligibility
Donna Summer, 13th year of eligibility (a cover of "Sally Go 'Round The Roses")

Next, number of times nominated, including years nominated:

ABBA - two times (2002, 2009)
The Chantels - two times (2001, 2009)
Jimmy Cliff - one time
Genesis - one time
The Hollies - one time
LL Cool J - one time
Darlene Love - two times (1998, 2009)
Laura Nyro - one time
Red Hot Chili Peppers - one time
The Stooges - eight times (1996, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009) Donna Summer - two times (2007, 2009)

The previous two years, there were nine nominees, three of which were previous nominees. This year, there are twelve nominees, five of which were previous nominees. The nominators favor groups that have never been nominated over those who have, as do the voters.

Writing on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame blog yesterday, Jim Henke, Rock Hall Chief Curator and Nominating Committee Member, revealed some interesting tidbits about this year's nominations, but not the actual nominees.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Nominating Committee – a diverse group made up of about 30 rock and roll experts, including music executives, music journalists, historians and even a couple of musicians – met in New York City this past Wednesday to compile the ballot for the next Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee election.

The only news here is that the Nominating Committee met on September 9th. Next, Henke explains the nomination process:

Each member of the [Nominating Committee] can suggest up to three potential nominees. In addition, there are three subcommittees – one on progressive rock and heavy metal, one on hip-hop and one on early rock and rollers and rhythm & blues – that convene prior to the big meeting and suggest potential nominees in those categories.

Henke confirms that the Rock Hall is utilizing the genre subcommittees again this year after they were introduced last year. By acknowledging the specific groups, one could reasonably deduce that the there will be at least one nominee on the ballot from each of the three subcommittees.

The big question here is why is the Rock Hall lumping together prog rock and heavy metal? What do they have in common other than the fact they're both underrepresented in the Hall of Fame? It's possible that the genre subcommittee members are fluent in both metal and prog, so they're just combined into one, but that still seems strange. Metallica filled this slot on the ballot last year, leaving the prog rock selection, Yes, without a nomination. Perhaps that changes this year.

Henke also divulges new criteria for becoming a Hall of Famer:

The only official eligibility requirement is that an artist must have released his or her first record at least 25 years ago. Beyond that, the committee evaluates the influence an artist has had on rock and roll, the longevity of the artist’s career and the overall importance. Unlike sports halls of fame, where one can point to the statistics an athlete compiled over the course of his career, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not based on numbers. In fact, record sales play a very small role in determining who is nominated. As a result, it’s all very subjective. And all of the members of the Nominating Committee are very passionate about their suggestions.

The key line there is that the Nominating Committee evaluates, "the longevity of the artist's career and the overall importance." We have never officially heard that "longevity" is part of the induction criteria, but it's always been a part of our "induction chances" calculations.

Henke continues with more news about this year's ballot:

This year the committee members discussed a very wide range of artists – from those whose careers began in the Fifties to some who are still very active. Overall, more than 50 potential nominees were discussed and debated. Then a ballot listing all of the artists was distributed and each member got to vote for their top 15 artists. That vote determined who will go on the ballot, which is then distributed to the Hall of Fame’s voters – a group that includes all living inductees, as well as various executives, journalists, historians and the like. In the end, 12 artists made the ballot, and five will ultimately be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I can’t say who the nominees are, but I was very happy with the results – it’s a very diverse group of artists in terms of musical styles, eras, etc. But stay tuned – the nominees’ names will be made public soon.

The Rock Hall had nominated just nine artists the previous three years, so bumping up to 12 this year is a welcome development, and one we have been lobbying for.

Look for the official announcement of the nominees to happen within the next couple of weeks.

Roger Friedman, former Fox News columnist and now Hollywood Reporter blogger, reports that David Geffen will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, presumably in the Non-Performer category. Friedman also writes that Universal Music Group head Doug Morris will be honored in 2011. Both Geffen and Morris were disciples of the late Ahmet Ertegun, whom the Non-Performer award is now named after.