The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has always been a chaotic animal.  They have no pattern in when they announce the nominees, and when they announce the date, it is often in the middle of the night.  The Cleveland-based institution was so oblivious towards the other major Halls, that they changed the date when they realized it was the same time as the Pro Football Hall of Fame had a scheduled announcement.  Had they been paying attention, they would have seen that the PFHOF does follow an announcement structure, as do the other major sports, but their pattern has always been no pattern.

Last night, the Rock Hall did buck their tradition as we actually when they were going to announce it, which occurred on American Idol.  Whether or not it is a good idea to do that on a show that is about manufacturing pop stars is a good or idea or not can be determined later, but at least it was not dropped out of nowhere in the middle-of-the-night press release.

Announced by Lionel Richie, who is one of the judges of American Idol, we learned who will comprise the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

The newest members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class are:

A Tribe Called Quest:  ATCQ meets the artistic and influence requirements, though we consider it a mild surprise that the voters placed them over Eric B & Rakim.

Cher:  We said (as did many) that when Cher received her first nomination after being eligible for decades that this induction was a lock.  Generating hits in multiple decades, Cher is a rock star, fashion icon and maverick, who said last year that she would never attend if chosen.  So, of course, here we are!

Dave Matthews Band:  The jam scene gains another entrant with the Dave Matthews Band, who join the Hall on their second ballot (they were first nominated in 2020).  No other nominated act in 2024 was close to them stylistically, and they were apparently very close when they were nominated the last time.  This was not a shock.

Foreigner: The arena rock band was allegedly told that as long as Jann Wenner was in charge, they would never be inducted. Wenner was ousted, and they were finally nominated.  As we have seen often (and also here with Cher), when the voting body has a chance for someone who has waited over 20 years, they respond.  We will see another example soon.

Kool & The Gang.  Another band that had to wait over 20 years for their first crack at the Hall.  Far more than “Celebration” they have the most eclectic body of work of all the inductees.  Too bad there is only one member left.

Mary J. Blige:  Mary J enters the Hall on her second nomination (she was nominated in 2021), and in regards to R&B/Hip-Hop authenticity, she has few peers.

Ozzy Osbourne:  Already inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall with Black Sabbath, Osbourne had a very successful career in the 1980s and remains an iconic figure in Metal.  Once he was nominated as a solo, this felt inevitable. 

Peter Frampton:  Like Foreigner, Frampton was part of the arena rock scene, had never been nominated, and was eligible for over 20 years.  Is Wenner rolling in his grave?  He’s alive?  So, stewing in his juices. 

This means that Eric B. & Rakim, Jame’s Addiction, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Oasis, Sade and Sinead O’Connor id not receive the necessary votes to advance.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has a backdoor entry that they often use when acts they want acts inducted, which the voting body had passed on previously.  This avenue called the Musical Excellence Award, saw two previous nominees, a recently deceased legend and a songwriter/producer, enter the Hall.

MC5:  One of the most important bands in proto-punk history finally got their due, and this was likely their only path for induction.  They were nominated in 2003, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2022 and never seemed to come close in voting.

Dionne Warwick: Warwick and her smooth soul/adult contemporary voice enter Cleveland through the Musical Excellence Award.  She was nominated previously in 2021 and 2022.

Jimmy Buffett:  The leader of the parrot-heads died last year, and was one of the most successful touring acts ever. 

Norman Whitfield:  Working for Berry Gordy at Motown, Whitfield co-wrote and/or produced many of their hits, and was credited with the creation of “psychedelic soul”

The Hall also inducted Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton via the Musical Influence Award and Suzanne De Passe with the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

In the upcoming months, we will endeavour to revise our Notinhalloffame Rock List. Please be patient, as we also have to complete our Football, Basketball, and WWE revisions.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced their 2024 Nominees, which if we had a million tries, we never would have guessed this group.  It is completely different than what we have seen in the past, and (taking this from a personal point of view as the Chairman of the Site) I don’t know whether this makes me happy or not.  There is a plethora of first-time nominees, many of whom have never been nominated, and it is nice to see different acts get a shot, but with this group, we have no artist whose peak began before the 70s that are here.  Is that window closed?  There are also no punk acts, and I can’t remember the last time that happened.

Also, is this a reaction to Jann Wenner’s New York Times comments that got him excommunicated from his own creation.

As Arsenio used to say, “Things that make you go…Hmmmm”

Let’s look at the 15 nominees.

A Tribe Called Quest:  Eligible since 2015, this might be the most predictable nominee as they were nominated the previous two years. 

Cher:  A few months ago, Cher was on the Kelly Clarkson Show ripping on the Rock Hall and stating that she would never accept induction.  So, what do they do?  They nominate her for the first time after being eligible since 1991.  Bluntly, what is more Rock and Roll than telling them off?

Dave Matthews Band:  The beloved jam band received their second nomination, with their first coming in 2020.

Eric B. & Rakim:  Somehow, this nomination was already leaked, which is the first to my recollection.  The hip hop duo has been eligible since 2012, the same year they received their first nomination.

Foreigner:  Arena Rock bands have a hard time gaining a nomination, but often when they get one, they get inducted.  This is their first nomination after being eligible since 2003.

Janes Addiction:  Receiving their second nomination (their first was in 2017), the body of work is not huge, but the legacy is. 

Kool and the Gang:  Finally!  It took 29 years for the group to get its first nomination, but sadly there are few of them left. 

Lenny Kravitz:  Kravitz is also another first-time nominee, and has been eligible since 2015.  He has a tough road ahead in this group.

Mariah Carey:  Does Whitney’s induction pave the way for Mariah?  It should, and if we look at commercial success, there is no better candidate than this.  Eligible since 2016, this is her first nomination.

Mary J. Blige:  Blige is now a two-time nominee (her first was 2021), but like the last time, she faces a very tough ballot for her.

Oasis:  The kings of Brit-Pop are finally here, and arguably they should have been on their first year of eligibility in 2020.  The Gallaghers giving a speech together?  As unlikely as that is, it would be money.

Ozzy Osbourne:  Already in with Black Sabbath, Ozzy receives his first solo nomination.  He has been eligible since 2006.

Peter Frampton:  Best known for his album, “Frampton Comes Alive”, Frampton receives his first nomination after 24 years of eligibility.

Sade:  Another first-time nominee, Sade has been eligible since 2010, but this is a very hard ballot for her with the high amount of women on the ballot, who all arguably have higher profiles.

Sinead O’Connor:  O’Connor passed away last year and was never nominated when she was alive.  Her first year of eligibility was 2013.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the artists who have made it as Finalists for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 
In addition to saying that he felt “unqualified and undeserving” he had this to say: 

“I'm not sure that Lemmy Kilmisterever heard of the Notorious B.I.G., and I'm not sure if the Notorious B.I.G. ever heard of Lemmy, but maybe that's what rock ’n’ roll is… people falling out of their world or getting out of their world and getting in front of everybody and doing something that seems impossible and getting noticed for it. I feel like I don't belong, but I'm pretty happy to be included...in a pretty outrageous lineup of people. If I'm gonna be in a category of people getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it's good to be included in one that makes no sense.

I was very happy to hear about it, and it is overwhelming. I do feel undeserving and flattered as well by the whole thing, and I think the whole band does, too. We all reached out to each other to say, 'How bizarre is this?'"

The selection of the Dave Matthews Band could be the most polarizing one of the Finalists.  While they have a wide fan base, they have also drawn the most online criticism of any group to be nominated. 

We do have to disagree with Matthews in his claim that this is a group of candidates that makes no sense, as this has been the pattern for nominees over the past decade. 

Let the conversations on this topic continue.

The first content that we ever put up on Notinhalloffame.com was our original Rock and Roll list ranking those who were not yet in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but were worthy of consideration. It ranked 100 acts, and as we continued on we extended it to 500. Our eventual intent is to get to 1,000 and at present we now have 567 ranked.

The selection of The Moody Blues, The Cars, Nina Simone, Bon Jovi and Dire Straits to the Hall means that they are removed and newly eligible acts now populate our list. Rankings of existing musicians have been altered based on your comments and votes.

The new top 25 features:

Radiohead takes over the top spot after being ranked #2. They were nominated last year in their first year of eligibility and it was widely speculated that they would get in but it should be only a matter of time.

Kraftwerk returns to the number two rank after being #1 last year. The influential band has been nominated four times (2003, 2013, 2015 & 2017) and was our original number one selection when we put out our first list in 2010.

Jethro Tull holds firm at #3. To the surprise of many, the British Progressive Rock band has never been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame despite being eligible for twenty-five years.

The Smiths also held their spot at #4. This is the third year that they have been ranked this high and they were nominated in 2015 and 2016.

Roxy Music is ranked #5 for the second year in a row. They have been eligible for the Hall since 1997.

MC5 is ranked #6 for the third straight year. They have been nominated the last two years.

Gram Parsons moves up one spot to #7, which is his highest ranking to date. He was nominated three times in 2002. 2004 & 2005.

Willie Nelson drops down to #8. Nelson has never been nominated.

New Order returns to the top 10 moving from up from #11. They also have never been nominated and have been ranked as high as #5.

Judas Priest makes their first appearance in our top ten taking the #10 position after being ranked #13. The heavy metal pioneers also earned their first nomination last year after being eligible since 1999.

The Cure moves up to #11 from #14, which is their highest rank to date. They were nominated in 2012.

John Coltrane remains at #12. He has never been nominated.

Todd Rundgren continues to climb our rank, moving from #15 to #13. He has moved up every year since our list’s inception and he has also never been nominated although has been eligible since 1995.

Iron Maiden climbs to #14 after being #17. They have also never been nominated and this to date their highest rank.

Dick Dale moved up one spot to #15. The “King of the Surf Guitar” has never been nominated.

T.Rex rises two spots to #16, their highest rank to date. They have also never been nominated.

Pixies also went up two spots to #17. Never nominated, they have been eligible for the Hall since 2012.

Janet Jackson also increased her rank and is now at the #18 hole. Jackson was nominated in both 2016 & 2017.

Joy Division reached the top 20 for the first time reaching #19. Like New Order, they have never been nominated.

King Crimson returns to the top 20. They were ranked #23 last year and they have never been nominated.

Wu-Tang Clan plummeted from #10 to #21. They have only been eligible for two years.

Depeche Mode continued to rise and are now #22. They have been nominated for the last two years.

Big Star dropped to #23. This is their lowest ranking to date and they have yet to be nominated.

Link Wray moved up three to #24, his first time in our Top 25. The guitar legend was nominated last year and also in 2014.

Beck closes the Top 25. He was ranked at that last year.

As you see, no new act made our revised Top 25. That doesn’t mean that there are not new entries as we have 19 debuts to our Notinhalloffame.com list.

They are:

Bjork at #56.

Dave Matthews Band at #81.

Blink-182 at #90.

Rancid at #100.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony at #128.

Snoop Dogg at #178.

The Roots at #235.

Built to Spill at #249.

Shania Twain at #255.

Sheryl Crow at #304.

Counting Crows at #309.

Toni Braxton at #320.

Everclear at #381.

AFI at #387.

Collective Soul at #400.

Aimee Mann at #420.

Frank Black at #454.

Elastica at #484.

As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank you for your votes and comments and encourage you to offer more as this does alter future rankings.

Look for our revised Notinhalloffame.com Baseball list in the upcoming weeks.