The Biggest Rock Hall Snubs

There are many great artists who have been overlooked by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The vast majority of these artists have never been nominated for induction. Each year, the final ballot of performers is selected by the Rock Hall Nominating Committee, then sent to the larger Voting Committee for election.

Here are the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's biggest snubs:

ArtistYears Snubbed# of Years Nominated
A Tribe Called Quest70
Afrika Bambaataa161
Alice In Chains60
Aphex Twin50
The B-52's180
Bad Brains141
Bad Company220
Barry White230
Bauhaus170
Beck30
Big Star240
Billy Idol150
Björk190
Black Flag180
Blue Öyster Cult240
Blur60
Brian Eno220
The Buzzcocks190
Can280
Captain Beefheart300
Carly Simon250
The Carpenters270
The Chemical Brothers10
Cher310
Chic1911
The Commodores220
Connie Francis380
Daft Punk20
The Damned200
Dave Matthews Band31
De La Soul80
The Dead Kennedys170
Devo192
Diana Ross260
Dick Dale340
Duran Duran150
Echo and the Bunnymen170
Emerson, Lake & Palmer260
Eric B. & Rakim101
Eurythmics151
Faith No More110
The Flaming Lips120
Fugazi80
George Michael90
Gloria Estefan90
Gram Parsons293
The Guess Who310
Harry Nilsson290
Hüsker Dü150
INXS160
Iron Maiden171
The Jam190
Jan & Dean360
Jane's Addiction91
The Jesus and Mary Chain120
Jethro Tull280
Jim Croce300
Johnny Burnette and the Rock N Roll Trio400
Joy Division180
Judas Priest222
Kate Bush182
King Crimson270
Kool & the Gang270
Link Wray382
Love300
Mariah Carey60
The Marvelettes352
Mary J. Blige41
Mary Wells351
Massive Attack80
MC5305
Megadeth110
The Monkees300
Mötley Crüe150
Motörhead191
My Bloody Valentine110
Nas40
Neu!240
New Order150
New York Dolls232
Nick Cave120
Nick Drake270
Oasis20
The Offspring80
Outkast30
Ozzy Osbourne160
Pantera130
Pat Benatar221
Pavement70
Pet Shop Boys120
Peter, Paul & Mary340
Pixies90
PJ Harvey50
The Pointer Sisters230
Procol Harum291
Rage Against the Machine43
The Replacements151
Rufus with Chaka Khan234
The Runaways200
Scott Walker300
Silver Apples280
Siouxsie & the Banshees180
Slayer130
Sleater-Kinney20
Smashing Pumpkins60
The Smiths132
Sonic Youth140
The Sonics310
Soundgarden101
Sparks250
The Specials170
The Spinners353
Steppenwolf281
Stone Roses110
Stone Temple Pilots40
Suicide190
Television210
Thin Lizzy261
Three Dog Night270
Tommy James & the Shondells300
Tool40
Toots & the Maytals340
Tori Amos50
War253
Warren Zevon270
Weezer20
"Weird Al" Yankovic170
Wilco20
Wu-Tang Clan40
X180
XTC190

The artists listed above are currently eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and were selected by Future Rock Legends commenters on the Rock Hall Revisited and the Rock Hall Projected pages.


The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has inducted only the lead performer of certain notable groups, with Smokey Robinson and The Miracles being the most famous example. (Update: In 2012, the Rock Hall inducted The Blue Caps, The Comets, The Crickets, The Famous Flames, The Midnighters, and The Miracles, so they have been removed from the list below. The E Street Band was inducted in 2014.) Here are a list of Rock & Roll Hall of Famers with (arguably) snubbed backing groups. Rock Hall Monitors has a comprehensive look at this issue.

Bob Marley & The Wailers
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Dion & The Belmonts
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company
Patti Smith Group
Paul McCartney & Wings

Here are some additional notable candidates who deserve consideration for the Rock Hall because of their influence on the rock era.

Amos MilburnBig Mama Thornton
Bing CrosbyBlind Lemon Jefferson
Buchanan & GoodmanCab Calloway
Charlie ParkerChuck Willis
Count BasieCrew Cuts
Dizzy GillespieDjango Reinhardt
Dolly PartonDuke Ellington
Eddie LangElla Fitzgerald
Emmylou HarrisEsther Phillips
Fela KutiFrank Sinatra
George JonesGlenn Miller Orchestra
Harry BelafonteHerbie Hancock
Ivory Joe HunterJacques Brel
John CageJohn Coltrane
Johnny AceKarlheinz Stockhausen
Lightnin' HopkinsLonnie Donegan
Loretta LynnMerle Haggard
Mississippi John HurtOdetta
Patsy ClineRavi Shankar
Roy BrownScott Joplin
Screamin' Jay HawkinsSerge Gainsbourg
Sonny Boy Williamson IIThe Carter Family
The CloversThe Dominoes
The Four FreshmenThe Kingston Trio
The Mills BrothersThe Ravens
The WeaversThelonious Monk
Tom LehrerTownes Van Zandt
W.C. HandyWaylon Jennings
Wendy CarlosWillie Nelson
Wynonie Harris

After the 2018 inductees were announced, the Cleveland Plain Dealer staff (led by Troy Smith), put together a list of their 100 biggest Rock Hall snubs (Update: Artists honored subsequent to 2018 are noted with their induction year):
  1. Kraftwerk
  2. Janet Jackson (2019)
  3. Radiohead (2019)
  4. The Smiths
  5. Carole King
  6. Judas Priest
  7. King Crimson
  8. Roxy Music (2019)
  9. Nine Inch Nails (2020)
  10. John Coltrane
  11. Iron Maiden
  12. The Cure (2019)
  13. Whitney Houston (2020)
  14. Sonic Youth
  15. The New York Dolls
  16. Big Mama Thornton
  17. Chic
  18. T. Rex (2020)
  19. Warren Zevon
  20. Soundgarden
  21. Tina Turner
  22. Gram Parsons
  23. Link Wray
  24. Jethro Tull
  25. Mariah Carey
  26. Joy Division
  27. The Shangri-Las
  28. Rage Against the Machine
  29. The Replacements
  30. LL Cool J
  31. Pixies
  32. MC5
  33. Mary Wells
  34. Joe Tex
  35. Dr. Dre
  36. Chuck Willis
  37. Joe Cocker
  38. The Spinners
  39. Dick Dale
  40. Black Flag
  41. Depeche Mode (2020)
  42. Eric B. & Rakim
  43. Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones
  44. Smashing Pumpkins
  45. Eurythmics
  46. Willie Nelson
  47. Def Leppard (2019)
  48. The Zombies (2019)
  49. Captain Beefheart
  50. Big Star
  1. Junior Walker & the All-Stars
  2. Connie Francis
  3. Peter Tosh
  4. Peter Frampton
  5. Wyonnie Harris
  6. Jane's Addiction
  7. The Marvelettes
  8. The Clovers
  9. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
  10. Procol Harum
  11. Motorhead
  12. New Order
  13. Jan and Dean
  14. Salt-N-Pepa
  15. Slayer
  16. The Runaways
  17. Ben E. King
  18. Pat Benatar
  19. Duran Duran
  20. De La Soul
  21. The B-52's
  22. Fugazi
  23. Lonnie Johnson
  24. Ozzy Osbourne
  25. A Tribe Called Quest
  26. Pavement
  27. Rufus with Chaka Khan
  28. Chubby Checker
  29. Sade
  30. The J.B.'s
  31. The Dominoes
  32. The J. Geils Band
  33. Afrika Bambaataa
  34. Devo
  35. Roy Brown
  36. Todd Rundgren
  37. Leroy Carr
  38. Peter Paul & Mary
  39. Pat Hare
  40. Ice Cube
  41. The Doobie Brothers (2020)
  42. Megadeth
  43. The Meters
  44. George Michael
  45. Rick James
  46. Alice In Chains
  47. Bad Company
  48. The Guess Who
  49. Billy Wright
  50. Phish