Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2023 Nominees

Cafe Society
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This year’s group of nominees was announced today. They include (* = first-time nominee):

  • Kate Bush
  • Sheryl Crow *
  • Missy Elliott *
  • Iron Maiden
  • Joy Division/New Order *
  • Cyndi Lauper *
  • George Michael *
  • Willie Nelson *
  • Rage Against the Machine
  • Soundgarden
  • The Spinners
  • A Tribe Called Quest
  • The White Stripes *
  • Warren Zevon *

Nelson, like Dolly Parton last year, is more known for being a country musician, who had some crossover hits, but I suspect that he’ll get a lot of support.

The joint nomination of Joy Division and New Order is cool, IMO. For those unfamiliar, Joy Division was a late ‘70s English band. They only recorded two albums; after singer Ian Curtis’s suicide in 1980, the remaining members disbanded Joy Division, and re-formed as New Order, which was successful through the 1980s. Including both bands’ body of work in the nomination may help get them in.

Billboard’s take on the nominees’ odds:

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My picks, in that order :

  • Kate Bush
  • Joy Division/New Order
  • Rage Against the Machine
  • George Michael
  • Cyndi Lauper
  • Iron Maiden

If…

… a singular sound and legacy [is] more critical to induction than down-the-middle rock credentials…

…then, Kate Bush and Joy Division/New Order are obvious choices. So is Rage Against the Machine but to a lesser extent (less range).

George Michael was a really talented song writer, much more so than a lot of people give him credit for.
Cyndi Lauper had a brief time in the spotlight but she’s got an amazingly expressive voice, ranging from powerful to vulnerable.

Iron Maiden is hugely influential, but in a relatively niche genre.

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The White Stripes were just about the second biggest pure rock band of the 2000s, and since the Killers aren’t eligible yet, they deserve to get in on that basis.

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No Weird Al. Bogus.

Kate Bush was Rock n Roll?

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The pool hasn’t been limited strictly to rock for close to 20 years now, since whenever it was that they inducted Grandmaster Flash. They probably should just rename it the Pop Music Hall of Fame at this point.

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My order would be:
RATM
JD/NO
WS
KB
ATCQ
then whatever.

I would have liked to see Soundgarden in there while Cornell was alive, now I don’t care.

Besides the HoF not being that exclusive anymore, what about her music makes her not Rock?

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It is pretty obvious at this point that pretty much any 60’s-early/mid 70’s rock act not in by now no longer has much of a chance of being nominated much less getting voted in, such as King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Steppenwolf, Mott the Hoople, and Procul Harum. There is a bias against artists who no longer tour (whether retired or dead, tho I know KC is still active, and Tull was until at least fairly recently), as well as the anti-prog skew of course.

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Soundgarden should be there for sure.

Rage Against the Machine has a few hits, but is honestly not that big a band in my opinion. They don’t have that many albums and other than “f-you system!”, which is a popular message…I don’t see them being very influential.

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I’d argue they were way more influential than Soundgarden.

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The snub of prog rock bands is really annoying. George Michael is nominated, but Jethro Tull and King Crimson are nowhere to be found. :confused:

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Speaking as a progressive rock fan, there’s been a long-standing perception (which I have generally shared) that Jan Wenner isn’t a fan of prog, and that that has been reflected in prog bands not being in the Hall.

But, in the last decade, several prog bands (Yes, Rush) and prog-adjacent bands (Moody Blues, ELO) have been selected, so I’m now not as certain that there is an ongoing “snub” of progressive rock, generally. That certainly doesn’t help if your favorite prog band is still on the outside, of course.

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I think this is the first list of nominees where there aren’t any artists I was surprised weren’t already inducted. They should just change the name to the Popular Music Hall of Fame.

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Or “the Popular Music Hall of Pretty Good.”

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“Popular Music Hall of Those With the Right Connections and Trendy Cultural Cachet”…

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Once again the most deserving nominees aren’t on the list, like Supertramp, Mariah Carey, Weird Al (probably the single biggest snub), Jethro Tull, or Outkast. What idiots make these decisions?

Kate Bush is a pretty deserving choice, and I think Sheryl Crow is a no-brainer. I’d add Missy Elliott, White Stripes, RATM, and I’d flip a coin between George Michael and Iron Maiden. I am surprised Iron Maiden wasn’t already in, actually.

I see the logic behind nominating Joy Division and New Order as a single idea but I also see the logic against it, and they were clearly glued together because neither by themselves did enough to merit it.

Cyndi Lauper was great but her career essentially amounts to two albums and I gotta have more than that.

I love Warren Zevon but admit his popularity and lasting power rank him a bit below some other acts.

Willie Nelson is an absolute legend, but this is like nominating Wayne Gretzky for the Golf Hall of Fame. I mean no insult to Willie, he’s a treasure, but to pull in country acts while deserving rock acts aren’t nominated is disgraceful.

I am honestly just kind of blanking on Soundgarden. I mean obviously I remember them, but their legacy, to me, just seems buried amongst grunge bands I liked more, and “Black Hole Sun” is one of my least favorite songs of all time. I dunno, maybe I’m badly forgetting their influence. I don’t even think they’re the best grunge band not yet in - that’d be Smashing Pumpkins.

A Tribe Called Quest was great but they’re not top six and only got nominated because they missed so many more deserving nominees.

The Spinners are just in a completely different era, and I acknowledge that maybe my winners are frontloaded:

Kate Bush: Mostly 80s
Sheryl Crow: Mostly 90s
Missy Elliott: 90s and 00s
White Stripes: Mostly 00s
RATM: Mostly 90s
George Michael or Iron Maiden: Mostly 80s

That maps awfully closely to my age (Missy Elliott and I were born just a few months apart) so there’s bias probability there, and I can see the logic behind dropping my Michael/Maiden coin flip and putting in The Spinners for a broader mix of genres and history.

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I can agree with you on the fact that Outkast should get in; for a time in the 2000s, Atlanta briefly supplanted New York and LA as the capital of rap music and Outkast were the primary reason for that.

Sheryl Crow should definitely get in; I am getting the sense that there is momentum for Warren Zevon to get in, if anything because of all the incredibly famous people who love his music and are fans (not that he isn’t deserving on the merits, of course).

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That’s the sense that I’ve always had about Zevon, as well – he wasn’t particularly successful from a sales/hits standpoint, but he was well-respected in the industry (and had advocates like David Letterman).

As far as 1970s bands like Tull, King Crimson, and Supertramp: my suspicion is that the voters (including those who create the short list of nominees each year) feel that they’ve litigated those groups’ merits repeatedly in the past, and barring any changes in how those bands’ output and influence are viewed, I think it’s going to be very hard for them to get in (with or without any “prog bias”).

Frankly, I think that such a shift is how ELO made it in a few years ago: they were originally seen as a likable-enough pop group, with a bunch of hits, but not necessarily Hall-worthy; over the last ten-fifteen years, there seems to have been a re-evaluation of the band by critics, as well as a newer wave of musical artists who consider ELO to be an influence, and a resurgence in interest in them by fans.

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I’d vote him in just for his rendition of Back in the High LIfe. Plus, Lawyers Guns and Money is one of my all time favorites.

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just change the name to jann wenner hof

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I would tend to agree, but Soundgarden sold almost twice as many albums (30m to 16m). I’d put them both in, I guess, though I’m not a big fan of either.