Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction odds
Earlier this week, the list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced, with a somewhat large list of potential inductees for when the top five vote getters are revealed this December with the ceremony to take place next April.
To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. The 2017 Nominees had to release their first recording no later than 1991, which as we noted a few weeks ago, was a huge year for music.
Nominees are on the ballot for the first time include Depeche Mode, Electric Light Orchestra, Jane’s Addiction, Journey, Pearl Jam and Tupac Shakur. Pearl Jam and Tupac Shakur became eligible for nomination this year.
Ballots will be sent to an international voting body of more than 800 artists, historians and members of the music industry with factors such as an artist’s musical influence on their peers, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation and superiority in style and technique taken into consideration.
The Roll Hall will again offer fans the opportunity to officially participate in the induction selection process. Now through 11:59 p.m. EST on December 5, 2016, fans can visit rockhall.com to cast votes for who they believe to be most deserving of induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Here are the Rock Music Menu odds on who will get into the hallowed Rock Hall this year and why:
BAD BRAINS: 25 TO 1
Nominating committee member and punk fan Dave Grohl has his hands all over this one. The Washington D.C. hardcore act has been eligible for a decade now, but this is their first year on the ballot. Unfortunately, they aren’t widely known in the mainstream, which could end up hurting their chances.
THE CARS: 30 TO 1
It’s only the Cars’ second year nominated after being eligible since 2003, and with a pretty strong crop to draw from the currently nominated class; they will likely have to wait until another time down the road.
CHAKA KHAN: 30TO1
Not surprisingly, this one is mired in a bit of controversy; Khan’s career was launched when she was in the Chicago funk outfit Rufus, who aren’t being inducted alongside her. Much of the reaction since she was first nominated last year was that Rufus should at least go in tandem as Khan’s solo work just isn’t strong enough on its own to merit induction.
CHIC: 5 TO 1
This year marks the 11th time the disco band has been nominated since 2003, which is the most ever an artist has been proposed then had the rug pulled out from under their feet. Solomon Burke came close with 10, so it’s definitely getting into ridiculous territory.
DEPECHE MODE: 7TO1
English synthpop/new wave band Depeche Mode could be this year’s surprise inductee on their first time nominated since they’ve been eligible since 2006. The induction would work well scheduling-wise as the group announced last week that a new studio album, their first in four years, will be coming out next spring.
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA: 50 TO 1
Largely ignored for their contributions to pop music, despite frontman Jeff Lynne’s close association with George Harrison and the surviving Beatles in the 90s, ELO have been eligible since 1996 and this is their first nomination. It probably won’t be their last.
J. GEILS BAND: 40TO1
Eligible since 1995 and nominated sporadically in the years since, Boston’s J. Geils Band is one of those groups who are a threat to slide in whenever nominated, but this probably won’t be their year.
JANE’S ADDICTION: 20TO1
It’s surprising that it took five years for Jane’s Addiction to get nominated since first becoming eligible since they have been namechecked by so many artists and being influential. It would likely be between Jane’s and Depeche Mode for the second alt-rock act if that’s the way the vote leans.
JANET JACKSON: 25TO1
Nominated for the second year in a row and eligible since 2007, Janet Jackson feels like one of those artists who might not make the ballot next year and then get in the one after that.
JOAN BAEZ: 45 TO 1
Singer/songwriter Joan Baez has been eligible for induction since 1985 and this is her first nomination. Clearly, the nominating committee is in no rush to put her in.
JOE TEX: 15 TO 1
Soul artist Joe Tex coming up as a nomination is always a bit out of left-field, but they’ve been coming more frequently in recent years, so this could very well be the one.
JOURNEY: 10 TO 1
Regarded as rockers with no substance to their music by most members of the nominating committee since first becoming eligible in 2000, this is Journey’s first nomination. They always took a backseat to the likes of Van Halen and Aerosmith, who were nominated in their third and fourth year of eligibility respectively and got in the first time. Now, with 80s nostalgia running at an all-time high, it wouldn’t be so mindblowing if it were to happen for Steve Perry and Co.
KRAFTWERK: 20 TO 1
There’s been a spark of renewed interest in electronic, krautrock oddities Kraftwerk and a deeper appreciation of their music, seeing them nominated in 2013 and 2015. They might just be quirky enough to get the green light.
MC5: 10 TO 1
Detroit rockers MC5 are one of those names who always come up when music know-it-alls sit around complaining about why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is irrelevant. Putting them in would restore some much needed credibility.
PEARL JAM: 2 TO 1
One of the biggest bands of the grunge era look for Pearl Jam to join fellow Seattle outfit Nirvana (2014) as a first year of eligibility inductee. Frontman Eddie Vedder has long played nice with the Rock Hall, having inducted The Doors, R.E.M., Neil Young and Ramones over the years.
STEPPENWOLF: 75TO1
Sad news for all the “Born to Be Wild” bikers out there, but Steppenwolf isn’t making it in to the Rock Hall this year or next year and probably not the year after that. How they even made the ballot in the first place — and for the first time since becoming eligible in 1993 — is beyond reasoning.
THE ZOMBIES: 50TO1
With one great record under their belt and nothing truly great otherwise, the only rationale for The Zombies suddenly showing up as nominees this year and in 2014 has got to be the zombie craze which has permeated pop culture over the past several years. There’s seriously no other explanation.
TUPAC SHAKUR: 3TO1
Hands down the most talked about nomination, poet and unrepentant gangsta rap legend Tupac Shakur will no doubt get into the Rock Hall, it’s just a matter of when. Last year saw N.W.A make it in, and while the Hall has been spacing out hip-hop entries to every so many years, this could mark a change in the tide.
YES: 90125 TO 1
Voters on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame do not hold prog-rock in high esteem — it’s that simple. Genesis and Rush are anomalies. Odds are heavy it’s going to be another “No” to Yes.