2.INDUSTRY
In addition to Kate Bush, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has inducted Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, “Soul Train” inventor Don Cornelius, and the late George Michael.
Artists such as The Spinners, Rage Against the Machine, DJ Kool Herc, Link Wray, Al Kooper, and Bernie Taupin, Elton John’s longtime co-songwriter, were announced as the class of 2023 by the Cleveland-based school on Wednesday.
When you have artists as disparate as Link Wray (one of the genre’s rst innovators) and as contemporary as Missy Elliott, Kate Bush, The Spinners, Rage Against the Machine, and Willie Nelson, you know you have a lot of ground to cover. Before the unveiling, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President & CEO Joel Peresman said, “What we are always trying to show is that rock ‘n’ roll is a big tent, and many people belong.”
Elliott is the rst female hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and she also holds the record for most Grammys won by a female artist with four.
The minimum number of years between a musician’s rst commercial recording and their eligibility for induction is 25. Eight of the fourteen nominees (Crow, Elliott, Michael, and Nelson) were rst-time candidates. Elliott is ineligible for the rst time this year.
Bush was a potential candidate in the previous election but was ultimately eliminated. Newfound fame helped her break in this year, as her song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” was used on the Netix show “Stranger Things.” The hall praised her for “using lush soundscapes, radical experimentation, literary themes, sampling, and theatricality to captivate audiences and inspire countless musicians.”
The 90-year-old Nelson was simply called “an American institution,” while Michael was praised for “paving the way for a generation of proud LGBTQIA+ artists, from Sam Smith to Lil Nas X to Troye Sivan.”
Rage Against the Machine “forged brazen protest music for the modern era,” while Crow was known for songs like “All I Wanna Do” and “Every Day Is a Winding Road” from the ’90s.
Hall of Fame inductee DJ Kool Herc was hailed as “a founding father of hip-hop music” who “helped create the blueprint for hip-hop.” In addition, Chaka Khan was hailed as “one of the mightiest and most inuential voices in music” and a “streetwise but sensual hip-hop-soul diva,” who inspired later female artists like Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, and Janelle Monáe.
Within 18 months, the Spinners had amassed four R&B number ones, including “I’ll Be Around” and “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love.” It has been suggested that Wray, a pioneering rock guitarist, inuenced the likes of Je Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Bruce Springsteen. Taupin, John’s creative partner who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from the lm “Rocketman,” nally gets his due 29 years after John.
Cornelius gained acclaim for facilitating the broadcast of African American music and culture on national television. He said he “became a visionary entrepreneur who opened the door — and held it open for many others to follow him through.”
Do you think a Willie Nelson fan would be familiar with Missy Elliott? And vice versa,” Peresman remarked. “But here is a chance for someone into one of these artists to look at it and say, ‘Gee, I adore Missy Elliott’ or ‘Geez, I love Rage Against the Machine. Who were The Spinners, though? I need to look into that. If that helps change some people’s perspectives, then we’ve accomplished our goal.
The nominees who did not make it into the hall of fame this time include Iron Maiden, Cyndi Lauper, A Tribe Called Quest, The White Stripes, Warren Zevon, Joy Division/New Order, and Soundgarden. Since 1994, Zevon has been eligible for nomination, but despite Billy Joel’s best eorts, he has yet to be noticed.
New York City’s Barclays Centre will host the induction ceremony on November 3. Over a thousand musicians, historians, and music industry insiders cast ballots for the nalists. The top ve artists the public chose comprised a “fans’ ballot” that was tallied with the other professional ballots, and the results displayed at the museum.
