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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2020 is Announced

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2020 is Announced
14 Jan
2020
Not in Hall of Fame

Some people have Christmas. We here at Notinhalloffame.com have the annual announcement of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class.  

This isn’t an exaggeration. As we have discussed before, the idea for the website originated from a bar discussion about the glaring omissions to the Rock Hall.  This begat a list, and another, and another, to where are the go-to site to discuss all things Hall of Fame related.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame houses the most hotly debated assortment of entries and snubs, and when you have something as subjective as music, how can it not?

We’ll go one step further. Unlike the sports halls that we regularly discuss, the words Rock and Roll, are even debated.  While people might debate the origin of baseball or football, nobody debates what it is.  With Rock, not only is the origin mudded, the definition of rock music varies depending on who you ask.  The only rule they have is that an artist is eligible 25 years after they recorded their first album, and they even broke that when they inducted Smokey Robinson as a solo well under that threshold, this leaving out the rest of the Miracles: who had to wait decades later.

Clear as mud, right?

Regardless, of that quasi-critical into, we do this because we care, and you are here because you care. Let’s look at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2020.

Depeche Mode: Eligible since 2006, Depeche Mode has been a Finalist three of the last four years.  This induction helps open up the door for other 80s Alternative groups, namely The Smiths and New Order/Joy Division

The Doobie Brothers:  The Class Rock band have been eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1996, and it took until this year before they finally got nominated.  

Nine Inch Nails:  Approximately 18 months ago, Trent Reznor trashed the Rock Hall, but then he was an inductor for the 2019 Class.  Eligible since 2014, NIN enters in its third nomination making it the first (and likely only)

The Notorious B.I.G.:  This is the first year of Biggie’s eligibility and many expected him to enter immediately.  This will be a posthumous induction, as he was shot and killed in 1997.

T. Rex:  It took until this year for the glam rockers to receive their first nomination and after being eligible since 1994, Marc Bolan and company finally got in.

Whitney Houston:  Like Biggie, this is a posthumous induction.  The diva was first eligible in 2010.  Houston’s selection help artists like Mariah Carey get in later.

While fans of any of the other group/artist will point that the omission of their respective favorite is a snub, some are a little more surprising than others.

The Dave Matthews Band won the fan poll, but did not advance through marking the first time in five years that this has transpired. They have only been eligible for three years, and this was the first time that the popular jam band was nominated. 

It was widely speculated that Pat Benatarcwas going to get in (including us), but that didn’t happen. The 80’s rocker has been eligible since 1999, but this was her first nomination.  If any artist will elicit a backlash for a perceived snub, this is the one. 

Many pundits thought that comments made about the Heavy Metal genre being underrepresented by new Hall of Fame CEO, Joel Peresman, could result in Judas Priest entering.  This did not happen.  This was their second nomination, and the British rockers have been eligible since 1999.

The other Finalists who did not make the cut are:

Kraftwerk:  Eligible since 1995, this was their sixth nomination, and fourth in the past six years. In terms of influence, there is no greater act left who belongs in the Rock Hall, though their music does not make most music fans think of rock at all.

MC5:  The proto-punk band fails to get in on their fifth nomination, and they have been eligible since 1991.

Motorhead:  It took until this year for Lemmy and company to be nominated after being eligible since 2002.  The failure to induct Judas Priest this year, likely makes this a longer wait for them.

Rufus and Chaka Khan:  Chaka Khan has been nominated multiple times both as a single and with Rufus.  She is a clear favorite of the nominating committee and this could very well be a potential Nile Rodgers situation.

Soundgarden:  After being eligible since 2011, Soundgarden received their first nomination this year.

Thin Lizzy:  The Irish rockers have been eligible since 1995, and this was their first nomination.

Todd Rundgren:  We had speculated that he might enter via the Ahmet Ertegun Award for Musical Excellence, but this went to Irving Azoff and Jon Landau instead. This was his second straight nomination, and he has been eligible since 1995.

We also expect that there will be more articles published how the Hall has snubbed women (they haven’t, and we are working on a giant piece about that), and others comments that begin with “It’s a joke that ___ is not in the Hall.”  We will continue with our opinions, and we certainly encourage all of yours.

All of this year’s group of impending inductees will be removed from our core Notinhalloffame.com Rock and Roll list.  We will add those who are now eligible, and redo rankings based on the new entries, and the votes and comments that we have received.  Look for our revised list by early March.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the new members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and we are looking forward to the ceremony this spring.

Last modified on Wednesday, 15 January 2020 13:25
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Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] . Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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