Uncovering the Next Generation's Hall of Fame
Using Apple Music's 100 Best Albums as a Predictor for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Apple Music recently convened a panel of their own experts as well as "a select group of artists" to develop a list of the 100 Best Albums of all time. Unlike some old Rolling Stone lists which leaned heavily on boomer nostalgia, Apple's list includes a wide range of albums across the last 60+ years of popular music. As you might expect, many Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are represented, taking up 56 slots on the list. Of the 44 albums by non-Hall of Famers, 23 are by artists not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame.
The top ranked eligible artists are Lauryn Hill, Dr. Dre, Daft Punk, Alanis Morissette, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Outkast, and Björk. As of 2024, none of those artists have been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Apple Music's full list below, with eligibility dates noted for non-Hall of Famers:
- Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Eligible 2023
- Michael Jackson - Thriller
- The Beatles - Abbey Road
- Prince - Purple Rain
- Frank Ocean - Blonde - Eligible 2036
- Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
- Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city - Eligible 2034
- Amy Winehouse - Back to Black - Eligible 2028
- Nirvana - Nevermind
- Beyonce - Lemonade - Eligible 2027
- Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
- Radiohead - OK Computer
- Jay-Z - The Blueprint
- Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
- Adele - 21 - Eligible 2032
- Joni Mitchell - Blue
- Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
- Taylor Swift - 1989 (Taylor's Version) - Eligible 2031
- Dr. Dre - The Chronic - Eligible 2018
- The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
- The Beatles - Revolver
- Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
- Daft Punk - Discovery - Eligible 2020
- David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
- Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
- Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Eligible 2027
- Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
- Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
- A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
- Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? - Eligible 2041
- Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill - Eligible 2017
- The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
- Radiohead - Kid-A
- Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
- The Clash - London Calling
- Beyonce - BEYONCE - Eligible 2027
- Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (38-Chambers) - Eligible 2018
- Carole King - Tapestry
- Nas - Illmatic - Eligible 2018
- Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
- Outkast - Aquemini - Eligible 2019
- Janet Jackson - Control
- Talking Heads - Remain in Light
- Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
- Bjork - Homogenic - Eligible 2003
- Bob Marley and the Wailers - Exodus
- Drake - Take Care - Eligible 2034
- Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
- U2 - The Joshua Tree
- Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
- Prince - Sign of the Times
- Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
- The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
- John Coltrane - A Love Supreme - Eligible 1986
- Rihanna - Anti - Eligible 2030
- The Cure - Disintegration
- D'Angelo - Voodoo - Eligible 2021
- Oasis - What's the Story Morning Glory - Eligible 2020
- Arctic Monkeys - AM - Eligible 2030
- The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground and Nico
- Sade - Love Deluxe - Eligible 2010
- Tupac - All Eyez on Me
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
- Erykah Badu - Baduizm - Eligible 2022
- De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising - Eligible 2014
- The Smiths - The Queen is Dead - Eligible 2009
- Portishead - Dummy - Eligible 2020
- The Strokes - Is This It - Eligible 2026
- Metallica - Master of Puppets
- N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton
- Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express
- SZA - SOS - Eligible 2039
- Steely Dan - Aja
- Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
- Missy Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly
- Bad Bunny - Un Verano Senti - Eligible 2041
- Madonna - Like a Prayer
- Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- Lana Del Rey - Norman F***ing Rockwell - Eligible 2033
- Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
- Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
- 50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin' - Eligible 2024
- Patti Smith - Horses
- Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle - Eligible 2019
- Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour - Eligible 2037
- Mary J. Blige - My Life
- Massive Attack - Blue Lines - Eligible 2014
- Nina Simone - I Put a Spell on You
- Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster (Deluxe Edition) - Eligible 2033
- AC/DC - Back in Black
- George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
- Tyler, The Creator - Flower Boy - Eligible 2034
- Solange - A Seat at the Table - Eligible 2027
- Burial - Untrue - Eligible 2030
- Usher - Confessions - Eligible 2019
- Lorde - Pure Heroine - Eligible 2037
- Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
- Travis Scott - ASTROWORLD - Eligible 2038
- Eagles - Hotel California
- Robyn - Body Talk - Eligible 2021
The Rock Hall's Balancing Act
Looking at the wide array of 246 performer inductees and comparing it to the long list of those who aren't in, it's possible to draw some general conclusions about what it takes to get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Hall doesn't list any official criteria, but the three primary traits of performer inductees tend to fall into these broad categories:
- Popularity
- Critical Acclaim
- Industry Connections
History has shown that artists who do well in at least two out of the three categories have a solid chance at making the Hall of Fame, and those who check all three boxes likely get in on the first ballot. This is why having massive record sales and radio hits (aka "Popularity") on their own isn't typically enough to break through (e.g. Huey Lewis & the News, Styx, Backstreet Boys, etc.), while the same is true of Critically Acclaimed artists who never fully entered the mainstream (e.g. Can, Hüsker Dü, PJ Harvey). The Industry Connections category can take many shapes, such as having your record executive or manager on the Rock Hall Nominating Committee, but it can broadly be thought of as artists who often show up at awards shows or special events, and play the showbiz game (e.g. John Legend, Alicia Keys, Green Day, Gary Clark, Jr.). Having those industry relationships is often the missing piece of the puzzle that helps separate artists from their musical peers in the eyes of the Hall of Fame.
It should be noted here that there are dozens of artists who satisfy two or three of these categories that aren't in the Hall of Fame yet, but should be considered qualified.
It wasn't long ago that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was criticized for being self-centered and run by elitist critics when it would repeatedly nominate artists like Patti Smith or The Stooges while ignoring (or outright disparaging) populist artists like KISS or Chicago. While there was unquestionably an element of truth to that reputation, the overall list of inductees was fairly balanced between popular and critical favorites.
Over the last decade, there has been a noticeable shift in the Rock Hall's stance towards critically maligned but popular artists, as more and more famous snubs finally broke through with a nomination and then were quickly inducted.
Continuing that trend, take a look at the performers nominated in 2022 and how they best fit in the diagram above (bold artists were inducted):
- C/P/I (1st Ballot): Eminem
- P/I: Lionel Richie, Eurythmics, Carly Simon, Dolly Parton*, Duran Duran
- I/C: Beck
- C/P: A Tribe Called Quest, Judas Priest, Rage Against the Machine
- P only: Pat Benatar, Dionne Warwick
- C only: Devo, Kate Bush, Fela Kuti, MC5, New York Dolls
* - Dolly is critically acclaimed in Country music circles, but generally not considered by the Pop/Rock critics, which are relevant here.
The only common denominator among the winners is Popularity. When evaluating such a musically diverse ballot, voters heavily gravitated towards the most iconic names, most of whom are deeply entrenched in the music industry. Any artist without household name recognition, a significant Billboard chart presence, or couldn't plausibly appear at the American Music Awards were passed over again.
To be fair, the Nominating Committee has tried to create well-balanced ballots, but it has become incredibly predictable to see that the Voting Committee now favors shiny stars over influential pioneers. The Rock Hall's "solution" to this problem is to use their special categories to induct handpick a few artists who can't get past the voters (like Judas Priest, Kraftwerk and LL Cool J), rather than addressing the systemic deficiencies in their ballot construction or voter demographics.
While some may see lack of balance unsettling, those in charge at the Rock Hall and HBO (its induction ceremony broadcast partner) almost certainly see this populist direction as a feature rather than a bug (especially with their new interest in the superstars of Country to choose from). Now that the precedent has been set for the amount of star power expected on stage at induction ceremonies, there's no turning back now.
Do online fan petitions help artists get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?
With the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's backlog of snubbed artists growing bigger every year, frustrated fan groups often turn to online petitions like change.org or Facebook groups to show the strength of their campaigns. But do they have any impact on the process? Is the Nominating Committee, who puts together the ballot, even made aware of their existence?
Let's take a look at just a sampling of the thousands of petitions that are out there:
Artist | Petition Site | Year Started | Signatures | Nominations |
---|---|---|---|---|
Randy Rhoads | change.org | 2020 | 850+ | Inducted in 2021 |
Todd Rundgren | change.org | 2016 | 17 | Inducted in 2021 |
The Doobie Brothers | change.org | 2017 | 2,400+ | Inducted in 2020 |
T. Rex | change.org | 2016 | 21 | Inducted in 2020 |
Whitney Houston | change.org | 2015 | 1,100+ | Inducted in 2020 |
Janet Jackson | change.org | 2013 | 512 | Inducted in 2019 |
The Guess Who | change.org | 2021 | 25,000+ | 0 |
Styx | change.org | 2020 | 3,500+ | 0 |
Triumph | change.org | 2020 | 600+ | 0 |
Kansas | change.org | 2012 | 53 | 0 |
Redbone | change.org | 2019 | 4,700+ | 0 |
Mötley Crüe | change.org | 2019 | 2,500+ | 0 |
INXS | change.org | 2020 | 3,600+ | 0 |
Original 5 VJs | change.org | 2018 | 4,700+ | N/A |
Spirit | change.org | 2016 | 1,600+ | 0 |
matchbox twenty | change.org | 2021 | 3,500+ | N/A |
Foreigner | change.org | 2018 | 4,800+ | 0 |
The Swampers (Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section) | change.org | 2021 | 300+ | N/A |
Emerson, Lake & Palmer | change.org | 2018 | 1,300+ | 0 |
Three Dog Night | change.org | 2015 | 1,000+ | 0 |
Sha Na Na | change.org | 2018 | 750+ | 0 |
Backing Groups | change.org | 2018 | 2,900+ | N/A |
Blue Öyster Cult | change.org | 2019 | 900+ | 0 |
"Weird" Al Yankovic | change.org | 2019 | 500+ | 0 |
Melissa Etheridge | change.org | 2017 | 10,000+ | 0 |
Duran Duran | change.org | 2019 | 1,700+ | 0 |
George Michael | change.org | 2016 | 5,000+ | 0 |
Ted Nugent | change.org | 2017 | 3,600 | 0 |
Meat Loaf | change.org | 2018 | 2,700+ | 0 |
Salt-n-Pepa | change.org | 2016 | 1,300+ | 0 |
Cinderella | change.org | 2021 | 1,100+ | 0 |
Diana Ross | change.org | 2020 | 3,900+ | 0 |
Ween | change.org | 2017 | 1,600+ | 0 |
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony | change.org | 2019 | 1,500+ | 0 |
New Edition | change.org | 2020 | 1,000+ | 0 |
David Cassidy | change.org | 2017 | 1,200+ | 0 |
Suzi Quatro | change.org | 2018 | 900+ | 0 |
Toots Hibbert | ipetitions.com | 2020 | 8,700+ | 0 |
Rory Gallagher | ipetitions.com | 2010 | 19,000+ | 0 |
Little Feat | ipetitions.com | 2013 | 6,400+ | 0 |
Fanny | ipetitions.com | 2021 | 1,600+ | 0 |
Pat Boone | ipetitions.com | 2013 | 400+ | 0 |
Selena | ipetitions.com | 2021 | 1,600+ | 0 |
Kool & The Gang | ipetitions.com | 2014 | 70+ | 0 |
The fact that a handful of recent inductees had an online petition is likely just coincidental, since there are petitions for hundreds of artists. Each year, Nominating Committee members are allowed to put two names up for discussion, and given huge number or artists to choose from, they won't be nominating anyone they aren't already passionate about.
The best way for fan groups to get the Rock Hall's attention is currently through the Voice Your Choice kiosk at the museum, where visitors can vote for the one artist they want to see inducted in the future. (This does require a trip to Cleveland and a $30 ticket to the museum.)
On the Rock Hall's new 2019 Inductees page, they seem to imply that the Voice Your Choice voting at the Museum kiosks influences the ballot https://t.co/oNgNHcnn8Z #RockHall2019 pic.twitter.com/1RxQeyvMag
— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklgnds) December 14, 2018
Greg Harris, the president of the Museum, has been known to use the standings of that poll as a reason to nominate artists. Def Leppard, Stevie Nicks and Dave Matthews Band have all jumped from the leaderboard to the ballot.
As for petitions? That energy would be better channeled into trying to encourage the Rock Hall to fix their induction system so more artists can be inducted each year.
Footnote: We first wrote about petitions 15 years ago (paper petitions didn't work either).
On Fairness: Using the Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot as a Model for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
In another universe where there isn't an endless backlog, this could be the 2021 Rock Hall ballot — styled after the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. (Illustration by Future Rock Legends)
One of the primary reasons that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame generates so much derision from fans is that there are literally hundreds of artists who can make a Hall of Fame case, but due to the nature of the induction process, will never get a shot on the ballot. The unfairness of the system creates a visceral reaction among casual observers of the Rock Hall who simply can’t understand how legendary artists don't even get a chance after decades of eligibility. Don’t all these artists deserve an opportunity to have their names appear on a Hall of Fame ballot, ideally while they're still alive?
Compare the Rock Hall’s current system, where even once-in-a-generation artists can’t get on the ballot, with the Baseball Hall of Fame induction process where every notable player gets a shot at their first opportunity.
Some quick background: players are eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame five years after they retire. In that first year of eligibility, a six-member Screening Committee adds every reasonable new candidate to the ballot along with all players that met a minimum 5% vote threshold from the previous year. That leads to ballots that typically have anywhere between 25 and 40 names. When the votes come in, marginal candidates quickly fall out of contention for the next year, but others are allowed up to 10 chances to get the 75% approval needed for induction before they fall off the ballot and are left for the Eras Committees to consider (formerly called the Veterans Committee).
The benefits of Baseball's system:
- Every quality candidate gets at least one chance on the ballot.
- A 10-year nomination cap provides enough time to build momentum for those who don’t get in right away, and also provides urgency for the voters when a player’s reaches their final ballot.
- Voters can vote for between 0 and 10 candidates each year, which gives voters plenty of options to give support to all those who deserve it without having to vote strategically.
- A low vote threshold to get back on the ballot allows nominees to get a multiple chances if they get caught in a stacked year.
- Players on the ballot are all from roughly the same era.
All of these attributes stand in stark contrast to the Rock Hall’s system:
- Most quality candidates never get nominated.
- There’s no nomination cap, so voters can endlessly procrastinate voting for certain artists who seem to come up every year.
- Voters are limited to selecting five artists from the ballot which leads people to vote strategically for lesser known candidates over obvious Hall of Famers, which occasionally backfires.
- While some artists get multiple chances on the ballot, many are “one and done,” even after they had never gotten a fair shot at induction because they were nominated in a strong year, or they were pitted against similar artists which split the vote.
- In any given year, voters are forced to compare artists from the 1960s to those up through the 1990s, when the context of their careers could not be more different.
- Nearly every nominated artist is Hall of Fame-worthy, making the voters choices come down to personal preference. Recently, a great induction class can be created by pulling six random artists from the ballot, since they all have their merits.
If the Rock Hall adopted a system like Baseball’s, the image at the top of this post could be the 2021 ballot, with its mix of newly eligible artists and those who have recently missed out. That fantasy ballot has many advantages over a typical Rock Hall ballot:
- Those with Hall of Fame careers clearly stand out from the rest.
- Artists with good careers get a chance at renewed exposure through their Rock Hall nomination.
- Evaluating contemporaries is much easier and a lot more fun to debate.
- It's fair to the artists and their fans.
Could the Rock Hall ever adopt a system like the Baseball Hall of Fame’s? Sure, anything is possible. There is nothing sacred about the current induction process. The Hall of Fame has always had the ability to do whatever it wants and be the type of institution it wants to be. A fair Rock Hall system structured like baseball’s, with the potential for large induction classes, a robust Veteran’s Committee, and a clear and transparent voting process could ultimately lead to a Hall of Fame that doesn't make people so mad.
Using Spin's Influential 35 as a Predictor for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Spin is marking its 35th anniversary with a series of features and lists, including a ranking of the 35 "most influential artists of the past 35 years." Seventeen of the artists have already been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including 15 of the top 20. The remaining artists will likely be in the Rock Hall conversation for the next 20+ years.
Here is Spin's ranking, with the eligibility year listed for non-Rock Hall artists:
- Nirvana
- Prince
- Madonna
- N.W.A
- Nine Inch Nails
- 2Pac
- Run-DMC
- R.E.M.
- Public Enemy
- Rage Against the Machine (2018)
- Guns N' Roses
- Beastie Boys
- Dr. Dre (2018)
- U2
- Pearl Jam
- The Neptunes (2029)
- Notorious B.I.G.
- Tori Amos (2017)
- Michael Jackson
- Jane's Addiction (2013)
- Outkast (2019)
- Radiohead
- Kanye West (2029)
- Jay-Z (2021)
- Eminem (2022)
- Beyoncé (2029)
- Ricky Martin (2017)
- Lady Gaga (2034)
- Tyler, the Creator (2035)
- Spice Girls (2022)
- Bikini Kill (2017)
- Drake (2035)
- Billie Eilish (2042)
- Sublime (2018)
- No Doubt (2018)
Of the eligible artists, only Rage Against the Machine and Jane's Addiction have appeared on a Rock Hall ballot. The others are still waiting to get an opportunity from the voters.
Is being influential enough to get you into the Hall of Fame on its own? Probably not. It usually takes an additional mix of commercial success, critical acclaim, and industry connections to get you over the top. Fortunately for many of these artists, they can score on multiple fronts.
Using "Women Who Rock" as a Predictor for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Journalism professor and former pop music critic Evelyn McDonnell is one of the most vocal advocates for properly recognizing the importance of women's contributions to rock music. Her essays regarding the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's deficiencies in that area have led to a heightened awareness in the media and public that just 7.7% of inductees are women.
In 2018, McDonnell released her edited collection of essays, Women Who Rock, which celebrated the careers of over 100 artists, 30% of whom are already in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. While many of the remaining women highlighted in the book are clearly worthy of the Hall of Fame, most of those eligible haven't even been nominated due to the Rock Hall's flawed induction system.
Will this list predict who the next women inductees will be? The only three women who have been inducted by the Rock Hall since publication were featured in the book, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, and Whitney Houston.
Here is the full list of women from the book (linked artists are not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; Hall of Famers noted with their year of induction):
- Bessie Smith (1989)
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe (2018)
- Mahalia Jackson (1997)
- Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton
- Wanda Jackson (2009)
- Patsy Cline
- Nina Simone (2018)
- Odetta
- Joan Baez (2017)
- Carole King (1990 as Non-Performer)
- Celia Cruz
- Tina Turner (1991 with Ike Turner)
- Aretha Franklin (1987)
- Darlene Love (2011)
- Ronnie Spector (2007 with The Ronettes)
- Diana Ross (1988 with The Supremes)
- Dusty Springfield (1999)
- Marianne Faithfull
- Grace Slick (1996 with Jeffeson Airplane)
- Laura Nyro (2012)
- Janis Joplin (1995)
- Carol Kaye
- Cher
- Dolly Parton
- Mavis Staples (1999 with The Staples Singers)
- Joni Mitchell (1997)
- The GTO's
- Yoko Ono
- Patti LaBelle
- Linda Ronstadt (2014)
- Karen Carpenter
- June Millington
- Bonnie Raitt (2000)
- Betty Davis
- Suzi Quatro
- Chaka Khan
- Emmylou Harris
- Stevie Nicks (2019 solo and 1998 with Fleetwood Mac)
- Donna Summer (2013)
- Patti Smith (2007)
- Heart (2013)
- Debbie Harry (2006 with Blondie)
- Joan Jett (2015)
- Grace Jones
- Poly Styrene
- Siouxsie Sioux
- Kate Bush
- Alice Bag
- Chrissie Hynde (2005 with The Pretenders)
- Exene Cervenka
- Poison Ivy
- ESG
- The Go-Go's
- Laurie Anderson
- Diamanda Galás
- Cyndi Lauper
- Madonna (2008)
- Kim Gordon
- k.d. lang
- Whitney Houston (2020)
- Janet Jackson (2019)
- Salt-N-Pepa
- Sinéad O'Connor
- Angélique Kidjo
- Lucinda Williams
- L7
- Selena
- Queen Latifah
- Ani DiFranco
- Kathleen Hanna
- Courtney Love
- Liz Phair
- TLC
- Tori Amos
- PJ Harvey
- Gwen Stefani
- Björk
- Lauryn Hill
- Aaliyah
- Shirley Manson
- Sleater-Kinney
- Fiona Apple
- Missy Elliott
- Erykah Badu
- Neko Case
- Dixie Chicks
- Beyoncé
- Tegan and Sara
- Peaches
- Sharon Jones
- Laura Jane Grace
- Amy Winehouse
- M.I.A.
- Rihanna
- Ana Tijoux
- Taylor Swift
- Adele
- Janelle Monáe
- Lady Gaga
- Santigold
- Nicki Minaj
- Pussy Riot
- Brittany Howard
It should be noted that McDonnell's book is not meant to be a comprehensive list of women who are worthy of induction, because there are many others who should be considered.
What Does Rock & Roll Look Like?
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Keirstead followed up that work with “The Jam Part II - Long Live Rock & Roll” which continued the project showing the following decades of rock stars (with a slightly more Canadian bias).
Here are the people illustrated (this time Hall of Famers are linked - most are not in the Hall of Fame yet):
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For many rock fans, this is what the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame should represent (even if it happens to be almost entirely white). If the Rock Hall also saw it that way, they might even have a chance to induct most of those people. But that’s not the way the Hall of Fame wants to represent rock and roll. They choose a far more ambitious path -- to include many of the different branches that sprung from the roots of rock and roll, including disco, electronic music, pop, and most controversially, hip hop. That makes their task exponentially more difficult. It’s hard enough to properly honor and represent the most important artists of one genre, but to try to capture the essence of popular music from the past half-century becomes an impossible task. There will inevitably be important artists who get left behind which leaves fans of all genres eternally frustrated. The current format of inducting just five artists per year does a huge disservice to their mission “to celebrate the musicians who founded, changed and revolutionized rock & roll,” when their definition of rock and roll includes an ever-expanding number of artists and genres. The Rock Hall has created an intractable problem.
Using VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists as a Predictor for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Because the “hard rock” genre definition seems pretty loose here, 34 of the 100 are Rock & Roll Hall of Famers (Update: As of 2017, 36 have been inducted). Apparently, the difficulty for the remaining artists is just getting on the ballot. Only five of the remaining 66 artists have ever been nominated: Nine Inch Nails, MC5, New York Dolls, Bon Jovi and Yes (Update: Yes was inducted in 2017).
Although the Rock Hall doesn’t primarily focus on hard rock, in the last four induction years Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, Green Day, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, KISS, Nirvana, Rush and Heart have all been inducted. Just give them another 30 years to induct the rest.
Here is the full list (linked artists are not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame):
- Led Zeppelin
- Black Sabbath
- Jimi Hendrix
- AC/DC
- Metallica
- Nirvana
- Van Halen
- The Who
- Gun N' Roses
- KISS
- Aerosmith
- The Sex Pistols
- Queen
- Soundgarden
- Pink Floyd
- Cream
- Ramones
- Ozzy Osbourne
- The Clash
- Alice Cooper
- Pearl Jam
- Deep Purple
- Judas Priest
- Iron Maiden
- Cheap Trick
- Motörhead
- Iggy Pop
- Rush
- Mötley Crüe
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Def Leppard
- The Doors
- Rage Against The Machine
- Alice In Chains
- Jane's Addiction
- Frank Zappa
- The Yardbirds
- MC5
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse
- Stone Temple Pilots
- Ted Nugent
- The Kinks
- Nine Inch Nails
- ZZ Top
- Pantera
- Scorpions
- Rollins Band
- Janis Joplin
- Smashing Pumpkins
- Slayer
- Thin Lizzy
- Faith No More
- Korn
- Sonic Youth
- Blue Öyster Cult
- White Zombie
- Heart
- Anthrax
- Bad Company
- New York Dolls
- Jethro Tull
- Ministry
- Boston
- Steppenwolf
- The Cult
- Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
- The Rolling Stones
- Hüsker Dü
- Megadeth
- Living Colour
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Foo Fighters
- Twisted Sister
- Pat Benatar
- Spinal Tap
- Bon Jovi
- Hole
- Marilyn Manson
- Ratt
- Green Day
- Pixies
- Queensrÿche
- King's X
- UFO
- Whitesnake
- Foreigner
- King Crimson
- Tool
- Lita Ford
- Rainbow
- Danzig
- The Black Crowes
- Lenny Kravitz
- Yes
- Fugazi
- Meat Loaf
- Primus
- Mountain
- Bad Brains
- Quiet Riot
Using Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All-Time as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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):
- Jimi Hendrix
- Eric Clapton
- Jimmy Page
- Keith Richards
- Jeff Beck
- B.B. King
- Chuck Berry
- Eddie Van Halen
- Duane Allman
- Pete Townshend
- George Harrison
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Albert King
- David Gilmour
- Freddy King
- Derek Trucks
- Neil Young
- Les Paul
- James Burton
- Carlos Santana
- Chet Atkins
- Frank Zappa
- Buddy Guy
- Angus Young
- Tony Iommi
- Brian May
- Bo Diddley
- Johnny Ramone
- Scotty Moore
- Elmore James
- Ry Cooder
- Billy Gibbons
- Prince
- Curtis Mayfield
- John Lee Hooker
- Randy Rhoads
- Mick Taylor
- The Edge
- Steve Cropper
- Tom Morello
- Mick Ronson
- Mike Bloomfield
- Hubert Sumlin
- Mark Knopfler
- Link Wray
- Jerry Garcia
- Stephen Stills
- Jonny Greenwood
- Muddy Waters
- Ritchie Blackmore
- Johnny Marr
- Clarence White
- Otis Rush
- Joe Walsh
- John Lennon
- Albert Collins
- Rory Gallagher
- Peter Green
- Robbie Robertson
- Ron Asheton
- Dickie Betts
- Robert Fripp
- Johnny Winter
- Duane Eddy
- Slash
- Leslie West
- T-Bone Walker
- John Mclaughlin
- Richard Thompson
- Jack White
- Robert Johnson
- John Frusciante
- Kurt Cobain
- Dick Dale
- Joni Mitchell
- Robby Krieger
- Willie Nelson
- John Fahey
- Mike Campbell
- Buddy Holly
- Lou Reed
- Nels Cline
- Eddie Hazel
- Joe Perry
- Andy Summers
- J Mascis
- James Hetfield
- Carl Perkins
- Bonnie Raitt
- Tom Verlaine
- Dave Davies
- Dimebag Darrell
- Paul Simon
- Peter Buck
- Roger McGuinn
- Bruce Springsteen
- Steve Jones
- Alex Lifeson
- Thurston Moore
- 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
Using Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All-Time as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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):
- Bob Dylan
- Paul McCartney
- John Lennon
- Chuck Berry
- Smokey Robinson
- Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
- Carole King/Carole King and Gerry Goffin
- Paul Simon
- Joni Mitchell
- Stevie Wonder
- Bob Marley
- Brian Wilson
- Hank Williams
- Bruce Springsteen
- Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland
- Leonard Cohen
- Neil Young
- Prince
- Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry
- Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
- Lou Reed
- Van Morrison
- Robert Johnson
- Elvis Costello
- Randy Newman
- James Brown
- Ray Davies
- Woody Guthrie
- Buddy Holly
- Pete Townshend
- Dolly Parton
- Burt Bacharach and Hal David
- Merle Haggard
- Michael Jackson
- Bono and the Edge
- Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter
- Jackson Browne
- Al Green
- David Bowie
- John Fogerty
- Max Martin
- Sly Stone
- Johnny Cash
- Jimmy Webb
- Robbie Robertson
- Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong
- Neil Diamond
- Elton John and Bernie Taupin
- Don Henley and Glenn Frey
- Billy Joel
- Willie Dixon
- The Notorious B.I.G.
- Stevie Nicks
- Kurt Cobain
- Tom Waits
- Madonna
- Joe Strummer and Mick Jones
- George Clinton
- Tom Petty
- Willie Nelson
- Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman
- Harry Nilsson
- Chrissie Hynde
- Bert Berns
- George Harrison
- Kenny Gamble and Leon A. Huff
- Morrissey and Marr
- Jay Z
- James Taylor
- Dan Penn
- Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
- Fats Domino and Dave Barthomolew
- Radiohead
- Patti Smith
- Isaac Hayes and David Porter
- Loretta Lynn
- Allen Toussaint
- Curtis Mayfield
- Lucinda Williams
- R. Kelly
- Björk
- Marvin Gaye
- Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson
- Kanye West
- R.E.M.
- Sam Cooke
- Kris Kristofferson
- Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill
- Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
- Babyface
- Eminem
- Paul Westerberg
- Billie Joe Armstrong
- John Prine
- The Bee Gees
- Timbaland and Missy Elliott
- Taylor Swift
- Otis Blackwell
- Tom T. Hall
- Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson
Using Lollapalooza Headliners as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Over the last 25 years, Lollapalooza has an impressive track record for showcasing some of the biggest and best names in rock. Many of the headliners have since been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But does a headline slot guarantee you a future home in Cleveland? Just like we did with Coachella, let’s take a look at the top three (or four) headliners from each Lollapalooza over the years. (* = already a Hall of Famer)
- 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*
When will the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees be announced?
- 2018 Nominees - October 5, 2017
- 2017 Nominees - October 18, 2016
- 2016 Nominees - October 8, 2015
- 2015 Nominees - October 9, 2014
- 2014 Nominees - October 16, 2013
- 2013 Nominees - October 4, 2012
- 2012 Nominees - September 27, 2011
- 2011 Nominees - September 28, 2010
- 2010 Nominees - September 22, 2009
- 2009 Nominees - September 22, 2008
- 2008 Nominees - September 27, 2007
- 2007 Nominees - October 28, 2006
Keep an eye on our Twitter page to find all of the latest Rock Hall news and information.
Future Rock Legends predicts the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees
Using Coachella Headliners as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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
- 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
Update:
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)
The official 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees
The 2010 Rock Hall Ceremony and beyond
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.Non-Hall of Famers to perform at the Rock Hall 25th Anniversary Concerts
Let's take a look at who these artists are:
- Tom Morello (performing with Bruce Springsteen) - His best shot at induction is clearly with Rage Against the Machine, not with the now-defunct Audioslave. Morello inducted the Clash into the Rock Hall in 2003, so he's no stranger to Rock Hall events.
- John Legend (performing with Stevie Wonder) - It seems like Legend is always available for big industry events such as this, but he has a long way to go before he becomes a serious Rock Hall contender himself.
- Lenny Kravitz (performing with Aretha Franklin) - The Rock Hall won't hold it against you if you've sold a lot of records, but that certainly doesn't guarantee induction. Kravitz's career got off to a quick start, but has gone off the rails a bit this decade.
- Annie Lennox (performing with Aretha Franklin) - The Eurythmics have been eligible since 2006, and have been seriously considered by the Nominating Committee, so they have a very good chance at getting in someday. Lennox's solo career has been good, but not Hall of Fame-worthy (yet).
- Update: Darlene Love (performed with Bruce Springsteen) - Love is nominated this year for the Rock Hall, so she may be a Hall of Famer soon enough.
- Update: Peter Wolf (performed with Bruce Springsteen) - Wolf is close friends with the many of the guys on the Nominating Committee, and the J. Geils band was nominated a few years ago, so it's always a possibility he could get in.
- Update: Black Eyed Peas (performed with U2) - The BEP are currently touring with U2, so that's likely how they got involved. Future Rock Hall prospects are pretty slim.
The concert won't be televised or webcast live, but there will be a four-hour HBO special in November and a DVD release next year.
Does Metallica open the door for Slayer?
"Only because... Didn't Metallica get in this year or last year or something? And I'm like, oh yeah, they've experienced and experimented with more of a pop angle, so I can definitely see them," he said. "Whether our time comes and people say, 'You're going to go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.' I'd kind of be surprised if we did because we are the anti-everything."Slayer are one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, along with Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth, so they may have a good chance of getting in if the Hall of Fame ever decides to widen its net to cover heavier rock genres. Future Rock Legends currently gives Slayer a 30% chance of future induction.
Rolling Stone's Five-Star Album Reviews
For our purposes, we're excluding five-star reviews of reissues and compilations, which Rolling Stone hands out fairly regularly and generally are given to artists that are already determined to be "immortals." So let's find the five-star reviewed albums by artists before they were eligible for the Rock Hall. Here are the five-star reviewed albums by non-Rock and Roll Hall of Famers since 1986 (in reverse chronological order):
- Kanye West - Late Registration, 2005
- The White Stripes - Elephant, 2003
- Beck - Sea Change, 2002
- R.E.M. - Automatic for the People, 1992 (inducted in 2007)
- Metallica - Metallica, 1991 (inducted in 2009)
- Pixies - Doolittle, 1989
- N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton, 1988
- Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation, 1988
- U2 - The Joshua Tree, 1987 (inducted in 2005)
- Prince - Sign O the Times , 1987 (inducted in 2005)
- R.E.M. - Document, 1987 (inducted in 2007)
- Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction, 1987
- The Smiths - The Queen is Dead, 1986
- Run-DMC - Raising Hell, 1986 (inducted in 2009)
- Paul Simon - Graceland, 1986 (inducted in 2001)
As you can tell, Rolling Stone is extremely judicious in handing out five star reviews, but when they do, they have a good track record of picking artists who eventually end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And of the artists who are not in yet, it's difficult to find any who won't likely end up enshrined in Cleveland someday. The only two artists on the list who are eligible and not in the Rock Hall are The Smiths (eligible since 2008) and Sonic Youth (eligible since 2007). Neither group has received much attention from the Nominating Committee yet, but that is likely to change in the coming years.
One other thing to note is that there is only one debut album on the list (Appetite for Destruction). Usually, the five-star reviewed album follows other notable work from the artist, so Rolling Stone isn't gambling its reputation on a previously unknown artist.
Major thanks go out to Erik J. Heels who has been tracking these five star reviews for many years now. We'll be sure to take note of any new five-star reviews in the future.
Update: We removed Pavement's Slanted & Enchanted from the list above. That album didn't get its five-star review until the reissue came out. Can anyone confirm the others were all from their initial review?
Using Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers of All-Time as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
A hefty 72 of the artists listed are Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. That leaves just 28 artists who are not yet in. Quite a few of these are primarily known as country singers (George Jones, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Patsy Clline), and generally wouldn't be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anyway, although there have been exceptions (like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash). There are seven artists who aren't eligible yet, but a few of them are likely future inductees, like Nirvana, Radiohead and Guns N’ Roses.
Of the notable snubs on the list, Nina Simone ranks the highest, but many rock fans will likely point to Steve Perry's inclusion on this list as another reason for Journey's induction.
The full list:
- Aretha Franklin
- Ray Charles
- Elvis Presley
- Sam Cooke
- John Lennon
- Marvin Gaye
- Bob Dylan
- Otis Redding
- Stevie Wonder
- James Brown
- Paul McCartney
- Little Richard
- Roy Orbison
- Al Green
- Robert Plant
- Mick Jagger
- Tina Turner
- Freddie Mercury
- Bob Marley
- Smokey Robinson
- Johnny Cash
- Etta James
- David Bowie
- Van Morrison
- Michael Jackson
- Jackie Wilson
- Hank Williams
- Janis Joplin
- Nina Simone *
- Prince
- Howlin' Wolf
- Bono
- Steve Winwood
- Whitney Houston *
- Dusty Springfield
- Bruce Springsteen
- Neil Young
- Elton John
- Jeff Buckley
- Curtis Mayfield
- Chuck Berry
- Joni Mitchell
- George Jones *
- Bobby "Blue" Bland
- Kurt Cobain * [inducted in 2014]
- Patsy Cline *
- Jim Morisson
- Buddy Holly
- Donny Hathaway *
- Bonnie Raitt
- Gladys Knight
- Brian Wilson
- Muddy Waters
- Luther Vandross *
- Paul Rodgers *
- Mavis Staples
- Eric Burdon **
- Christina Aguilera *
- Rod Stewart
- Björk *
- Roger Daltrey
- Lou Reed
- Dion
- Axl Rose * [inducted in 2012]
- David Ruffin
- Thom Yorke *
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Wilson Pickett
- Ronnie Spector
- Greg Allman
- Toots Hibbert *
- John Fogerty
- Dolly Parton *
- James Taylor
- Iggy Pop ** [inducted in 2010]
- Steve Perry *
- Merle Haggard *
- Sly Stone
- Mariah Carey *
- Frankie Valli
- John Lee Hooker
- Tom Waits *[inducted in 2011]
- Patti Smith
- Darlene Love * [inducted in 2011]
- Sam Moore
- Art Garfunkel
- Don Henley
- Willie Nelson *
- Solomon Burke
- The Everly Brothers
- Levon Helm
- Morrissey *
- Annie Lennox *
- Karen Carpenter *
- Patti LaBelle *
- B.B. King
- Joe Cocker *
- Stevie Nicks
- Steven Tyler
- Mary J. Blige *
* = not yet in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
** = nominated in 2009
Rolling Stone to add new "Influences" feature
Ryan Adams is the first artist featured, and he lists a quite a variety of his influences: Black Flag, The Strokes, Emmylou Harris, Sonic Youth, Nas, Jerry Garcia, Hüsker Dü, and Mariah Carey.
We'll try to keep an eye on this regular feature and take note of what is one of the more difficult Hall of Fame criteria to measure.
Using the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or: Why the Charts Don't Matter
Looking down the list at the artists who aren't eligible yet (indicated with an asterisk), there really aren't any slam dunks for induction, although a strong case could be made for a few of them. If ranking high on this list were important to the Rock Hall, then Janet Jackson (the highest ranking eligible artist) should have at least received some serious consideration by the Nominating Committee, but she has not. Clearly the Rock Hall is looking for other credentials in their Hall of Famers besides having a successful singles career.
As far as using this list as prediction tool, we wouldn't recommend it. It's unlikely that over the next 20 years that any more than a handful of the non-Hall of Famers listed below will be inducted.
The complete list follows, with links to the non-Hall of Famers:
- The Beatles
- Madonna
- Elton John
- Elvis Presley
- Stevie Wonder
- Mariah Carey *
- Janet Jackson
- Michael Jackson
- Whitney Houston *
- The Rolling Stones
- Paul McCartney/Wings
- Bee Gees
- Chicago
- The Supremes
- Daryl Hall & John Oates
- Prince
- Rod Stewart
- Olivia Newton-John
- Aretha Franklin
- Marvin Gaye
- Usher *
- Phil Collins
- Billy Joel
- Donna Summer
- Diana Ross
- Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
- The Temptations
- The Beach Boys
- Lionel Richie
- Neil Diamond
- Carpenters
- Boyz II Men *
- The Jackson 5/The Jacksons
- Connie Francis
- Brenda Lee
- Barbra Streisand
- Kenny Rogers
- Bryan Adams
- Cher
- George Michael *
- Bobby Vinton
- John Mellencamp
- Three Dog Night
- Huey Lewis & The News
- Gloria Estefan/Miami Sound Machine *
- Bon Jovi
- Ray Charles
- Chubby Checker
- Foreigner
- Kool & The Gang
- Ricky Nelson
- Duran Duran
- Commodores
- Eagles
- Paul Anka
- TLC *
- Barry Manilow
- Dionne Warwick
- Gladys Knight & The Pips
- Heart
- The Everly Brothers
- R. Kelly *
- Bobby Darin
- James Brown
- Paula Abdul *
- Richard Marx *
- Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship
- Destiny's Child *
- Linda Ronstadt
- Celine Dion *
- Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
- Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
- Fleetwood Mac
- Bruce Springsteen
- The Pointer Sisters
- John Denver
- Four Tops
- Tony Orlando & Dawn
- The 5th Dimension
- Alicia Keys *
- Captain & Tennille
- Andy Gibb
- Air Supply
- Nelly *
- Roy Orbison
- The Spinners
- Queen
- 50 Cent *
- Dion
- Aerosmith
- Billy Ocean
- Tommy James
- Earth, Wind & Fire
- Brook Benton
- Michael Bolton
- Styx
- Toni Braxton *
- Neil Sedaka
- Herman's Hermits
- Simon & Garfunkel
* = not yet eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
So, for example, if you're arguing that Neil Diamond should be inducted based on the number of hits he has had, you need to be prepared to induct everyone with a higher position on this list. If you can't do that, then it's unwise to use Billboard chart success as a sole reason for induction.
Using Blender's Greatest 100 American Albums of All-Time as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
As far as using the list as a predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, there are 45 artists who are Hall of Famers and 41 artists listed who are not. Of the non-Hall of Famers, only the Beastie Boys and Nirvana have two albums listed, and both are almost sure to be inducted in the future.
Other artists who are likely to be inducted after they become eligible are Guns N' Roses, Pearl Jam, Public Enemy, Beck and Jane's Addiction. Some of the artists who might be on the bubble are Modern Lovers, the Minutemen, Hole, Mary J. Blige and Pavement.
Some of the most popular snubbed artists are represented by Randy Newman, Kiss, Gram Parsons, Willie Nelson and The Replacements.
There are obviously a number of hip-hop albums listed, and most of those artists listed would seem to have a good chance at future induction.
The full list is below:
- Madonna - The Immaculate Collection (Sire, 1990)
- Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill (Def Jams, 1986) [inducted in 2012]
- Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia, 1965)
- Stevie Wonder - Innervisions (Tamla Motown, 1973)
- Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (Geffen, 1987) [inducted in 2012]
- Ramones - Ramones (Sire, 1976)
- Blondie - Parallel Lines (Chrysalis, 1978)
- Chuck Berry - The Great Twenty-Eight (Chess, 1982)
- Nirvana - Nevermind (DGC, 1991) [inducted in 2014]
- Joni Mitchell - Blue (Reprise, 1971)
- Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (Def Jams, 1988) [inducted in 2013]
- Metallica - Metallica (Elektra, 1991) [inducted in 2009]
- Michael Jackson - Off the Wall (Epic, 1979)
- Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (Capitol, 1966)
- Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On (Tamla, 1973)
- Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (Rhino, 1962)
- The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (Verve, 1967)
- Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain (Warner Bros., 1984)
- Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps (Reprise, 1979)
- James Brown - Sex Machine (King, 1970)
- Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (Columbia, 1966)
- Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers (Columbia, 1966)
- R.E.M. - Murmur (IRS, 1983)
- Parliament - Mothership Connection (Casablanca, 1975)
- Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death (Bad Boy/Arista, 1997)
- Van Halen - Van Halen (Warner Bros., 1978)
- Al Green - Call Me (Hi, 1973)
- Aerosmith - Rocks (Columbia, 1976)
- Beck - Odelay (DGC, 1996)
- Little Richard - Grooviest 17 Original Hits! (Specialty, 1959)
- Louis Armstrong - The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings (Columbia Legacy, 2000)
- Curtis Mayfield - Superfly (Curtom, 1972)
- Hank Williams - 40 Greatest Hits (Mercury, 1978)
- Steely Dan - Katy Lied (MCA, 1975)
- The B-52's - The B-52's (Warner Bros., 1979)
- Chic - Risqué (Atlantic, 1979)
- Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (Capitol, 1989) [inducted in 2012]
- Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (Atlantic, 1967)
- Elvis Presley - The Sun Sessions (RCA/BMG, 1976)
- Hole - Live Through This (DGC, 1994)
- Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland (Reprise, 1968)
- Patti Smith - Horses (Arista, 1975)
- Sly & the Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On (Epic, 1971)
- Dr. Dre - The Chronic (Death Row, 1992)
- Pearl Jam - VS. (Epic, 1993)
- Run-DMC - Raising Hell (Profile, 1986) [inducted in 2009]
- Phil Spector - Back to Mono (1958–69) (ABKCO, 1991)
- Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959)
- Eminem - The Slim Shady LP (Interscope, 1999)
- Kiss - Destroyer (Casablanca, 1976) [inducted in 2014]
- Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark (Asylum, 1974)
- Randy Newman - 12 Songs (Reprise, 1970) [inducted in 2013]
- A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (Jive, 1991)
- Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours (Capitol, 1955)
- Bob Dylan - The Basement Tapes (Columbia, 1975)
- Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire E(PIC, 1996)
- Mary J. Blige - My Life (MCA, 1994)
- Grateful Dead - American Beauty (Warner Bros., 1970)
- Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (Loud/RCA, 1993)
- Paul Simon - Graceland (Warner Bros., 1986)
- The Coasters - 50 Coastin' Classics (Rhino, 1992)
- Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town (Columbia, 1978)
- Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (Columbia, 1968)
- Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel (Reprise, 1974)
- Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin (Columbia, 1958)
- Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers (Berserkley, 1976)
- Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted (Matador, 1992)
- TLC - Crazysexycool (Laface, 1994)
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - (Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd) (MCA, 1973)
- Prince - Sign "O" the Times (Paisley Park, 1987)
- L.L. Cool J - Radio (Def Jam, 1985)
- Carpenters - The Singles 1969–1981 (A&M, 2000)
- Pixies - Surfer Rosa (4AD, 1988)
- Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul (Atlantic, 1968)
- Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Columbia, 1998)
- Muddy Waters - At Newport 1960 (Chess, 1960)
- Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking (Warner Bros., 1998)
- Elvis Presley - From Elvis in Memphis (RCA, 1969)
- Woody Guthrie - Dustbowl Ballads (Camden, 1964)
- Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (Nothing/Interscope, 1994)
- Various Artists - Nuggets: 1965–1968 (Elektra, 1972)
- De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (Tommy Boy, 1989)
- The Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime (SST, 1984)
- Buddy Holly - Greatest Hits (MCA, 1995)
- Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger (Columbia, 1975)
- Neil Young - After the Gold Rush (Reprise, 1970)
- R.E.M. - Automatic for the People (Warner Bros., 1992)
- DJ Shadow - Endtroducing… (Mo'wax/FFRR, 1996)
- Talking Heads - Remain in Light (Sire, 1980)
- Weezer - Weezer (Geffen, 1994)
- Eagles - Hotel California (Asylum, 1975)
- Lucinda Williams - Lucinda Williams (Rough Trade, 1988)
- Tori Amos - Under the Pink (Atlantic, 1994)
- Nirvana - In Utero (DGC, 1993) [inducted in 2014]
- Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson (RCA, 1971)
- Kid Rock - Devil Without a Cause (Top Dog/Lava/Atlantic, 1998)
- The Doors - The Doors (Elektra, 1967)
- The Replacements - Let It Be (Twin Tone, 1984)
- Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness' First Finale (Tamla, 1974)
- Otis Redding - Otis Blue — Otis Redding Sings Soul (Atlantic, 1965)
Other than Sonic Youth, who do you think are the worst omissions? Smashing Pumpkins? Wilco? Soundgarden? Red Hot Chili Peppers? The Flaming Lips? The White Stripes? Devo? Let us know in the comments.
Using Rolling Stone's List of 100 "Immortals" as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Using Rolling Stone's 100 Best Guitar Songs as a Predictor for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rolling Stone magazine recently came up with a list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time." Despite the name, the list isn't really indicative of the best guitar songs, but more of a rundown of the greatest artists of all-time with tracks selected from each.
These types of lists are generally good indicators of who Rolling Stone thinks the important artists are. And because of the overlap between the Rolling Stone writers and the members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, it might show who could be headed for future induction.
Here is the list of artists in order, with their Hall of Fame status in parentheses. The guitar song can be found on Rolling Stone's website -- it's irrelevant here.
- Chuck Berry (yes)
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience (yes)
- Cream (yes)
- The Kinks (yes)
- The Rolling Stones (yes)
- Van Halen (yes)
- The Beatles (yes)
- Led Zeppelin (yes)
- The Allman Brothers Band (yes)
- Nirvana (eligible in 2013)
- Led Zeppelin (yes)
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience (yes)
- Derek and the Dominos (eligible since 1995)
- Bruce Springsteen (yes)
- The Who (yes)
- Neil Young With Crazy Horse (yes)
- Black Sabbath (yes)
- Ramones (yes)
- Prince and the Revolution (yes)
- The Impressions (yes)
- The White Stripes (eligible in 2024)
- The Beatles (yes)
- The Yardbirds (yes)
- Rage Against the Machine (eligible in 2017)
- The Rolling Stone (yes)
- B.B. King (yes)
- The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (eligible since 1988)
- U2 (yes)
- AC/DC (yes)
- Bill Haley and His Comets (yes)
- Queen (yes)
- Dire Straits (eligible since 2003)
- Metallica (eligible since 2007)
- Aerosmith (yes)
- The Stooges (eligible since 1994)
- Pink Floyd (yes)
- Elvis Presley (yes)
- The Faces (eligible since 1995)
- Santana (yes)
- The Who (yes)
- Television (eligible since 2002)
- John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers (eligible since 1990)
- The Sex Pistols (yes)
- Sleater-Kinney (eligible in 2020)
- The Beatles (yes)
- Dick Dale and the Del-Tones (eligible since 1987)
- Van Halen (yes)
- The Clash (yes)
- Jimi Hendrix (yes)
- Pixies (eligible in 2012)
- Ozzy Osbourne (eligible since 2005)
- Radiohead (eligible in 2017)
- Creedance Clearwater Revival (yes)
- Stevie Ray Vaughan (eligible in 2008)
- Cream (yes)
- The Byrds (yes)
- Grateful Dead (yes)
- Link Wray (eligible since 1985)
- Jeff Beck (eligible since 1992)
- Funkadelic (yes)
- Sam and Dave (yes)
- Albert King (eligible since 1987)
- Guns n' Roses (eligible in 2011)
- Lynyrd Skynyrd (yes)
- The Police (yes)
- Stevie Ray Vaughan (eligible in 2008)
- Bruce Springsteen (yes)
- B.B. King (yes)
- Pink Floyd (yes)
- Smashing Pumpkins (eligible in 2015)
- The Strokes (eligible in 2026)
- Weezer (eligible in 2019)
- Blue Cheer (eligible since 1993)
- ZZ Top (yes)
- Frank Zappa (yes)
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (yes)
- Pearl Jam (eligible in 2016)
- Buddy Guy (yes)
- Sonic Youth (eligible since 2007)
- Steely Dan (yes)
- Michael Jackson (yes)
- The Ventures (yes)
- Sublime (eligible in 2017)
- John Mayer (eligible in 2024)
- Phish (eligible in 2013)
- Jeff Beck (eligible since 1992)
- King Crimson (eligible since 1994)
- Quicksilver Messenger Service (eligible since 1993)
- Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (eligible since 2005)
- The Smiths (eligible in 2008)
- The Mars Volta (eligible in 2027)
- Mick Jagger (eligible in 1995)
- My Bloody Valentine (eligible in 2010)
- Dire Straits (eligible since 2003)
- Moby Grape (eligible since 1992)
- Hüsker Dü (eligible since 2006)
- Queens of the Stone Age (eligible in 2023)
- Red Hot Chili Peppers (eligible in 2009)
- My Morning Jacket (eligible in 2024)
- Tool (eligible in 2017)
There are 46 songs from non-Hall of Famers by 43 different artists. Of these artists, 20 are already eligible for induction, with at least seven having been "previously considered" by the Nominating Committee (Albert King, Jeff Beck, Dick Dale, The Faces, The Stooges, Metallica, and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band).
As for the artists that aren't eligible yet, many of them are very likely future Hall of Famers. Bands like Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, The White Stripes, and Radiohead are almost certainly going to be inducted. As for the Mars Volta, the Strokes, and My Morning Jacket, it's probably a little too soon to know if they'll make it, but making this list is a sign they're on Rolling Stone's radar.
Slash Discusses a Potential Guns N' Roses Rock Hall Induction
Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash was recently asked about the possibility of a future GNR reunion at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Speaking of Guns N' Roses, Slash admits he has no contact with Axl Rose, nor has he heard material from the long-awaited "Chinese Democracy." But any silence between the camps is bound to end come 2012, when the influential hard rock act becomes eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.History has shown that volatile bands don't instantly start loving each other again just because of a Hall of Fame induction (Van Halen, CCR, Blondie, etc.). So you can bet that when GNR gets honored, it will be worth watching.Slash, McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum experienced firsthand what could be in store based on the drama that ensued last year around Van Halen's induction into the Rock Hall. With Eddie Van Halen in rehab and David Lee Roth refusing to attend after a set list squabble, Velvet Revolver ended up jamming with Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar.
"I never even thought about it until we had to do that," Slash says. "Somebody asked me, 'Do you think you guys will be able to show up for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (induction ceremony) in five years?' I was like, 'Oh, I guess we're eligible.' It never dawned on me before then. If this comes up, I'd hope we'd be mature enough to get up and do that, but I have no idea."
When asked what his gut feeling is about Rose and the other original members coming together, Slash says, "My gut doesn't count because it's not just about me. It's about everybody. And if it was easy to predict, we probably wouldn't have had so many hassles in the first place."
Rock Hall's "The Craft" series offers insight into Future Hall of Famers
The next artist in the series is a sure-fire Future Hall of Famer, Black Francis of the Pixies. Aimee Mann rounds out the group who have been announced so far, but more are on the way.
Beastie Boys and the Rock Hall
Journalist: Would you be honored to get inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?The Beastie Boys are one of the few artists who are locks to be inducted in the future. It may not be this year, but you can bet that they will be accepting their medallions/placards/keys to the city within the next five years.
Mike D: Will they pay you for that?
Journalist: I think you have to pay for your table.
Mike D: You pay to show up? So what’s the perks? Do you get a key to the city? Do you get a key to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Journalist: Probably.
Adrock: Do they give you a medallion of some sort?
Mike D: Do you get resort perks? Do you get to use a spa, for free?
Journalist: Let’s say all you get is the honor of it, would you be honored by it?
Mike D: You mean so there’s no perks, no spa package…
MCA: Let’s just say, can you get a placard? … I would be honored to receive a placard.
Mike D: I might like a medallion better.
Adrock: A trophy.
Journalist: If invited, would you pull a Johnny Rotten.
Mike D: That letter, was that ever [authenticated]? When I saw it reprinted it looked so fake.
MCA: I don’t think it was, because I was in LA and heard, what’s is name, the guitar player? Steve Jones. And they (Jones and John Lydon) were going on about it. And even Steve Jones, who’s more reasonable, was going on a tear, [mimics cockney accent] “I’m not going out there for a fucking…”
Thanks, David.
New hope for KISS
"They're worthy of induction," Stewart said. "They've influenced many other artists. They've also extended their band into almost a lifestyle, through merchandising."This is unbelievable news for KISS fans who have felt that Kiss should have been inducted years ago. With Terry Stewart on the nominating committee, Kiss has an insider who has now gone on the record for supporting their nomination. Stewart will still have to contend with Dave Marsh who is firmly entrenched in the anti-Kiss camp (assuming Marsh hasn't been recently removed from the committee as part of the shake-up). Marsh has said, "Kiss is not a great band, Kiss was never a great band, Kiss never will be a great band, and I have done my share to keep them off the ballot." Marsh is widely regarded as one of the most influential nominating committee members, so it will be interesting to see if Stewart can shake things up.
So why hasn't KISS been enshrined?
"It's not a slight," Stewart said.
"The process is rigorous and methodical."
Worthy inductees eventually are honored, just not always quickly enough for fans or the musicians themselves, Stewart said.
Let's talk about... KISS
Kiss is not a great band, Kiss was never a great band, Kiss never will be a great band, and I have done my share to keep them off the ballot.With that kind of prejudice, it's no wonder that Paul Stanley has become bitter about the Rock Hall in general:
The beauty of America is that you can basically start any kind of private club you want to. This one happens to be called the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's a very impressive name for a club but it's an illusion. It's the creation of a group of industry people and critics who decide who they deem as qualified to be in their little admiration society. It's their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but it's not the people's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Have you ever voted? I know I haven't. That's why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, besides having people who very much belong in there, have an abundance of people who most people will scratch their head and not even have a clue who they are. I don't have anything against anybody who's been inducted, but more than a couple of them are a joke. A band or musician's impact is measured by how they change and influence society and other musicians. That and how many albums and concert tickets they sell should be what gets them into the Hall of Fame. As far as I'm concerned it's a private club with a misleading name. It's a sham.KISS are one of those bands that have gone through their entire career without much critical acclaim or industry awards, but have legions of fans who couldn't care less.
Fans can rest assured that the KISS legacy will live on whether they are recognized by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame or not.
Supergroup alert!
Perhaps Julian Casablancas wants to be the one to induct Pearl Jam into the Hall in 2016.