RADIOHEAD UP FOR 2018 ROCK HALL
Depeche Mode and Bon Jovi back on diverse list of nominees
Somebody call the karma police.
Radiohead has been nominated for induction into the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Thom Yorke’s beloved alt-rock band joins other firsttime nominees, including late jazz icon Nina Simone, British heavy-metal group Judas Priest, English singer/songwriter Kate Bush and progressive-rock pioneers the Moody Blues.
Depeche Mode, The Zombies, The Cars, MC5 and J. Geils Band are all in the running again after receiving nominations last year, and Bon Jovi is back in the ring after receiving its first and only nod in 2011.
“The group of nominees is really reflective of the diversity of what we call rock ’n’ roll,” says Greg Harris, CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
Of the 19 artists nominated, two became eligible for induction this year: Radiohead and funk-metal band Rage Against the Machine, both of whom released their first singles ( Creep and Killing in the Name, respectively) 25 years ago in 1992.
Simone, meanwhile, lands her first nomination 31 years after she first qualified in 1986, the Rock Hall’s inaugural year.
“It’s interesting to see someone who was so influential make the ballot for the first time,” Harris says. Simone’s long-overdue rec--
ognition calls to mind 2017 inductee Joan Baez, who also was eligible in 1986 but received her first nomination only last year. “Many folks just assumed she was already inducted, and there was a similar feeling with Nina.”
Inductees will be voted on by a group of more than 900 artists, historians and music industry professionals.
The public can participate by casting votes through select media outlets, including USA TODAY, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Sirius XM, WKYC and rockhall .com. Voting ends Dec. 5, and the top five artists will make up a fan’s ballot, which counts as a single vote.
The 2018 inductees will be announced in December, and the induction ceremony will be held at Cleveland’s Public Auditorium on April 14, 2018.
Last year’s induction class included Baez, Tupac Shakur, Journey, Electric Light Orchestra, Yes, Nile Rodgers and Pearl Jam. The latter was particularly popular in the fan vote, says Harris, who believes two other bands could draw similarly strong reactions from music fans this year.
“From the museum side, the passion that fans have for The Moody Blues is pretty remarkable. They have never been on the ballot, so that could be pretty exciting,” Harris says.
“Globally, bands like Radiohead are massively popular with a different demographic than the Moody Blues, so that could be a really exciting fan piece.”