The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has revealed the list of 16 nominees for the Rock Hall Class of 2020. Soundgarden, the Dave Matthews Band and Whitney Houston are among the nine first-time contenders on the list, as well as the Doobie Brothers, Motörhead, Pat Benatar, T. Rex, Thin Lizzy and The Notorious B.I.G. – the sole hip-hop act to be nominated. If Biggie is inducted, he would become just the second solo rapper to join the Rock Hall, after 2Pac, who was inducted in 2017.
Returning nominees are, Judas Priest (nominated for Class of 2018), Kraftwerk (five previous noms), MC5 (four previous nominations), Nine Inch Nails (two previous noms), Rufus featuring Chaka Khan (three previous noms), Todd Rundgren (nominated for Class of 2019) and Depeche Mode (two previous noms).
Todd Rundgren | Can We Still Be Friends
The Notorious B.I.G. | Juicy
Depeche Mode | Personal Jesus
To be eligible, an individual artist or band must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years prior – 1994 or earlier – to the year of nomination. The Rock Hall Class Of 2019 was announced last December, with Def Leppard, The Cure, Stevie Nicks (inducted for the second time!), Radiohead, Roxy Music, The Zombies and Janet Jackson all being inducted in March this year.
The 2020 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony will be held at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 2, 2020, with the final selection set to be announced early next year.
Through January 10, fans can go to Google and search "Vote Rock Hall 2020" or any nominee name plus "vote" to cast a ballot with Google. The top five artists selected by the public will comprise a "fans' ballot" that will be tallied along with other ballots to choose the 2020 inductees.
Who do you want to see immortalised in rock history?
