Rock & Roll Hall ‘evolves’ with 16 nominees for 2020
At a moment of transition for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a new class of nominees for induction in 2020 puts generational and genre-based divides on full display: The Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, the Dave Matthews Band and Motörhead are among the first-timers on the ballot, while returning acts getting another chance include Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Judas Priest, and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan.
The 16 nominees up for inclusion at next year’s ceremony — scheduled to take place May 2 in Cleveland — are rounded out by Kraftwerk (nominated five times previously), MC5 (four previous nominations) and Todd Rundgren (one), plus the shortlist newcomers Pat Benatar, Soundgarden, T-Rex, Thin Lizzy and the Doobie Brothers.
The wide swath of options may reflect what the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s incoming chairman, John Sykes, called a need to evolve, amid years of criticism about the diversity of the inductees. Sykes, president of entertainment enterprises for the radio conglomerate iHeartMedia and a former MTV executive, will take over for Rolling Stone founder and the longrunning face of the Hall, Jann Wenner, on Jan. 1.
“The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame could become irrelevant because rock as we knew it in the ’60s is beginning to age out,” Sykes told The Cleveland Plain Dealer. “We have to evolve, and we have to change, because music is changing.”
Musicians become eligible for nomination 25 years after the release of their first commercial recording.
Inductees will be announced in January, with the 35th annual ceremony to follow in May.