On February 1st, the fourteen nominees for this year’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were announced. Sheryl Crow, Joy Division/New Order, George Michael, Missy Elliott, Cyndi Lauper, Willie Nelson, The White Stripes and Warren Zevon made her nominations for the first time this year. The other nominees – Iron Maiden, Kate Bush, Rage Against the Machine, A Tribe Called Quest, Soundgarden and The Spinners – had received this honor at least once in previous years.
Joy Division and New Order are nominated as a common entity. There is a precedent for this process from 2012: the British rock band Small Faces and their sequel with a slightly different line-up and the name Faces were also recorded as a single act.
Commenting on this year’s nominees, John Sykes, chairman of the foundation that supports RRHOF, said: “The list of nominees reflects the diversity of artists and musical genres that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honors and celebrates. They all created their own sound and influenced countless artists from the generations to come who have followed in their footsteps.”
It is not yet clear how many of the performers will be included this year. The votes of over 1000 selected historians, artists and employees of the music industry in the USA decide on the induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. However, fans also have an influence. They have until the end of April to submit their votes either online or in person at the Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
Since 1985, performers have been honored with their admission every year. At irregular intervals there are also people who have contributed to the development of rock and roll in other ways. The criterion for the inclusion of a performer is that their first musical publication was at least 25 years ago. Missy Elliott and The White Stripes are thus in their first year of eligibility nominations. This is despite the rapper’s debut album Supa Dupa Fly in 1997 and the garage rockers’ first single Let’s Sake Hands in 1998. The reason is a recent change in the format of Hall of Fame recordings. She ensures that the jury votes in the same year in which the admission is announced.
After the evaluation of the fan voting and the jury’s selection, this year’s recordings will be announced in May. The official ceremony is scheduled to take place in the fall. Last year included Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Eminem, Lionel Richie, Dolly Parton and Eurythmics, among others.