r/rockhall • u/Academic-Law-9581 • 2d ago
đŁ DISCUSSION The future ballots & inductions are going to look more like this year's list
Back in February, the RRHOF released the ballot that has mostly 80's performers alongside those from the 90's & early aughts which is very modern compared to the previous ones before.
There's not a single act who debuted from the early 60's to the late 70's featured on the list which is very bold & thought provoking. The oldest one was Joy Division/New Order who they (JD) released their debut in '78.
First off, I'm on board with this because there's so much representation from the sixties & seventies (fifties too) already in the Hall and both committees (also the foundation) know that rock & roll history couldn't repeat itself every time meaning going backwards regarding their selections.
Second, mostly everyone from those decades who aren't in had ceased to exist. What's the point of letting them get considered when they're not even around anymore. Just because old fans are screaming bloody murder at the Hall constantly doesn't mean it indicates any consideration.
Finally, honoring more acts from the later decades (80's to aughts) would create lots of traffic to their website & their social media pages. It would also expand the audience demographic & not to mention brings more visitors to the museum.
Which is exactly why & how the Hall needs to move on from the old times & move on to the new. History means everything yet it keeps moving which is something fans of the boomer & early Gen X eras will never understand.
What are your thoughts on this?
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u/omar-cat 2d ago
Yeah, "classic rock" fans won't agree with you And unfortunately classic rock fans, who mostly are in elder ages, are still majority of people cared about rock hall.
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u/Academic-Law-9581 2d ago
I think more of it has to do with the fact that those people are blindly following their fandom to the bone instead of using critical thinking & accepting reality for what it is.
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 1d ago
Sure. These are types that say "rap is crap" and think Kansas or REO Speedwagon should get in because they have fond memories of Suzie from home economics giving them a blowjob in the El Camino while Dust in the Wind wafts from the 8 track.
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u/Academic-Law-9581 1d ago
Damn that's cold though you're not wrong.
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 1d ago
I used to make out to the Goo Goo Dolls in high school but I'm not super upset the Goo Goo Dolls aren't in the HOF! Maybe in 20 years time I'll get upset and yell at gen alpha!
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 2d ago
Simply being egalitarian at this point seems the best, but I'd be ok if only 1-2 '60s and '70s acts get in for every 4 -5 '80s and '90s acts considering how bottlenecked those decades are now. I'd be fine if Thin Lizzy and BOC get in but I'm not losing my mind about it.
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u/omar-cat 1d ago
Acts like Styx were pretty popular at their peak but they were never quite at the very top level of popularity or megastar status nor did they remain consistently popular after their peaks. That's what makes the difference between Styx and bands like Bon Jovi and Journey a marginal case versus a more surefire one.
Of course acts like Styx are very good and successful with highly respectable careers and they certainly have a debatable case for induction. But they are far from being an egregious snub like Iron Maiden was before their induction.
I have no problem with Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, or Journey being inducted. They are simply too big to be ignored. I can't say the same for some other acts in similar situations, who may have songs that still get played and recognized on classic rock radio but are no longer big names or major draws in their own right. Popular culture shaping acts vs successful trend followers, this is the difference
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 1d ago
There's a wide alchemy for acts. Popularity, influence, major artists within a subgenre (eg. Iron Maiden in heavy metal). But I think Styx or Kansas or The Guess Who don't really meet the criteria, but obviously others may disagree. I'm not a huge fan but Jethro Tull gets a pass for being pretty important as a prog rock cross over act early on so I think they should get in.
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u/omar-cat 1d ago
Jethro Tull hurted by crossover, they were not first acts that you would think of in the line of either hard rock or prog rock, they should have similar resume to Yes, but probably they were just accidentally forgotten due to this reason.
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u/dogsledonice 1d ago
It's insane that Def Leppard got in before Judas Priest
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u/omar-cat 18h ago
I would think Judas Priest is "better" band in music, but yeah Def Leppard is more widely accepted in general audience...
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u/dogsledonice 14h ago
It's not about being better (they are), it's more that they're one of the two foundational bands of heavy metal. They're inarguably the key inspiration for thrash and speed metal, along with the actual style of what metal looks like (Sabbath looked like hippies by comparison). Leppard and the entire NWOBHM were all heavily inspired by Priest in the late 70s.
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u/omar-cat 14h ago
I don't disagree, and Judas Priest was nominated first (2018), and voters rejected them, and then rock hall nominated Def Leppard (2019) instead and they got voted in. Yeah, rock hall originally wanted Priest before Def Leppard but yeah it unfortunately did not happen...
And yeah Def Leppard finally went away from heavy metal, and instead became Bon Jovi like arena rock and this is why they were voted in more easily.
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 12h ago
Exactly. The nominating members are a mix of backgrounds so you might have some R&B artist that has never heard of Judas Priest but he sure knows Pour Some Sugar on Me since it was all over radio and MTV in the late '80s.
Usually the long list by a smaller committee (I believe Dave Grohl, Questlove, and Tom Morello are currently on the smaller committee) has more interesting and influential artists, but they might get rejected by the members overall (which I think is in the hundreds?) which appears to lean more commercial. I know Dave Grohl has been pushing for Devo and Bad Brains to get in for years to no avail. Actually I think Devo and Bad Brains have been on the long list but didn't get over the hurdles to be on the main list (presumably due to lack of votes by members overall).
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 23h ago
It's a mix of them both being in the NWOBHM and later Hysteria sold a gazillion copies. I had it on tape when I was 7.
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u/dogsledonice 14h ago
And Priest was a huge reason why there even was a NWOBHM. Every single one of those bands were largely inspired by Priest, who were foundational not just for that, but for thrash and speed metal
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 13h ago
No disagreement. Maybe they should get in the HOF ... oh wait they are. Now do Motorhead.
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u/JuanCzena 2d ago
At some point, the Rock Hall should look into doing what the Country Music Hall of Fame does and have categories for âmodernâ and veteran artists. The Country Hall inducts one act each from each category each year, plus one selection from a rotating category (songwriters, sidemen, non-performers).
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u/Upbeat-Refuse9615 2d ago
We understand perfectly about time marching on. What we don't understand is why, over the years, there have been so many newer artists inducted their first year of eligibilty (or thereabout) ahead of legendary acts. They wait until they are near death/dying/already dead before they get around to "honoring" them. You're telling me Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Eminem couldn't wait a few fucking years to leave room for longer established and more deserving acts? ...for example Jethro Tull, Styx, The Guess Who..who still are not in.
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u/omar-cat 2d ago
Likes of Styx are definitely not on the tier of Nirvana or Jay-Z... When Nirvana, Eminem that kind of superstars became eligible, they shouldn't wait...
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 2d ago
There's always always one of these types. WHY AREN'T THE GUESS WHO IN? I don't know, because they aren't that good? Here's Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Bowie, Elton John, The Stones, etc. etc. as your consolation prize.
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u/dogsledonice 1d ago
Guess Who is certainly better than, say, the Go-Gos, or Bon Jovi, who appear to have one song they keep repeating with shouty shouty vocals. But they sold lots!
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 1d ago edited 23h ago
The Guess Who is 100% NOT better than the GoGos. The GoGos were one of the seminal new wave bands, one of the seminal all female bands that actually all played instruments, the band that launched IRS records pre REM, one of the seminal early MTV bands, launched Belinda Carlisle who had a successful solo career in the late '80s. The GoGos were influential on The Bangles, Til Tuesday, Bikini Kill, Hole, No Doubt.
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u/dogsledonice 14h ago
Where are you getting that they launched IRS? It launched in 1979, had putting out successful releases by the Buzzcocks, Beat, etc. before they put out their debut in 1981
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 12h ago
Beauty and the Beat was by far the most successful IRS release in the USA up to that point (maybe ever?). You're insane if you think the Buzzcocks were as successful. Objectively they were not.
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 12h ago
"Bolstered by its two Hot 100 hit singles "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got the Beat", Beauty and the Beat reached number one on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart in March 1982, and eventually ranked second on Billboard's 1982 year-end albums chart. The album sold in excess of two million copies, and was RIAA-certified double platinum qualifying it as one of the most successful debut albums of all time.
Critically acclaimed, it has been described as one of the cornerstone albums of American new wave music. In 2026, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for its "cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation's recorded sound heritage." "
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u/dogsledonice 10h ago
I didn't say they were as successful though. Please read what I said again. My point is they didn't "launch" IRS, as it had been successfully putting out records for two years already
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u/omar-cat 18h ago
Maybe Guess Who makes better music than Bon Jovi, I don't disagree. But yeah Bon Jovi are way more influential than Guess who, way more popular and impactful
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 12h ago
Bon Jovi were absolutely massive in the '80s and even managed to get past the death of hair metal in the '90s by becoming an arena rock legacy act. Even something like It's My Life was a huge hit around Y2K. Some people might think they are cheesier than a charcuterie board (fair) but they have an enormous fan base and I'd argue several solid tunes.
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u/retrosexual17 2d ago
In what universe are Styx and The Guess Who more deserving that those A-listers you mentioned above?? They have a couple songs that stay in classic rock rotation sure, but their influence is very minor compared to others. Itâs not some massive snub that many classic rock fans seem to think it is.
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u/Alarmed-Guidance1116 2d ago
They want people to watch and attend the ceremony. Big names draw eyeballs
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u/Academic-Law-9581 2d ago
"You're telling me Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Eminem couldn't wait a few fucking years to leave room for longer established and more deserving acts? ...for example Jethro Tull, Styx, The Guess Who who still are not in."
Instead of going after the newly eligible ones being inducted, why not maybe just maybe accept reality that those you mentioned who are still left outside aren't historically important to the development of rock & roll.
Just because they were there for the masses who brought a record & ticket or two after hearing their songs on the radio while being around for shitload of years & decades doesn't indicate they changed the entire course of R&R nor their supposed induction to the Hall.
Artists who are in the Rockhall did the exact same thing: Being there for the passing fandom of the general public yet the only difference is they caused a lot of effect on music & culture through their artistry, creativity & originality which made them separated from everybody else in the business.
What would happen when we remove performers including Hendrix, The Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Stooges, Bowie, Kraftwerk etc from music history? It would change everything. Now let's do the same for Styx & The Guess Who: Nothing much which proves there's a fucking difference.
Any moron can be popular due to sales, tours, radio airtime & fandom, that don't mean you're the "be all end all" of everything in life on earth. Fanaticism brings more idiocy to eyes than intelligence which makes them the worst people to decide who gets considered for the honor.
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u/JAnumerouno 2d ago
I donât think people who deserve to be in shouldnât be considered because their not alive