When it comes to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, it’s not an honor just to be nominated it’s all about getting inducted. Out of the 16 nominees for the 2020 RRHOF class that were announced Tuesday morning, here are the fab five who we are pulling for to make the final cut when the inductees are revealed in January.
It’s hard to believe that the “Love Is a Battlefield” belter is just getting her first RRHOF nomination 15 years after she was first eligible. Now it’s time to finally treat her right and induct this Brooklyn-born rock goddess. Benatar proved that women could rock just as hard as the boys in her ’80s heyday and she could out-sing just about all of them with a classically trained voice that was both operatic and badass.
The third nomination wasn’t the charm, but hopefully the fourth one will be for this interracial funk band that could both rock and groove. The string of LPs they released in the ’70s from 1974’s “Rufusized” to 1979’s “Masterjam” pushed the boundaries of R&B with a genre-bending aesthetic that was tuneful and experimental, earthy and mystical. Plus, it had one of the all-time greatest voices in Khan, who has also been nominated in the past as a solo artist. But even without factoring in her solo work, it deserves to be told something good by the RRHOF come January.
When The Cure was enshrined this year, RRHOF voters took a step toward righting the wrongs they have done by not inducting other ’80s British alt-rock bands such as The Smiths and New Order. Now it’s time to give Depeche Mode the love that the synth-pop pioneers are due. The electronic outfit was ahead of its time, paving the way for acts such as the likewise-nominated Nine Inch Nails. (Sorry, DM gets in before NIN, folks.) It made music for the masses playing stadiums at its peak and still filling arenas — while never losing its cool.
While there was nothing “rock” about the late Houston unless you count her “Bodyguard” banger “Queen of the Night” there has been a precedent set with the induction of other pop divas such as Madonna and Janet Jackson. Like those other women, Houston changed the game for the ladies, with all the powerhouse songstresses that came after her from Mariah Carey to Jennifer Hudson trying to emulate the Greatest Voice of All. It’s kinda surprising that this is just her first nomination since she’s been eligible for years. And it’s practically worth her getting inducted just to see who will sing “I Will Always Love You” at the ceremony.
Nominated in his first year of eligibility, Brooklyn’s own Biggie Smalls is on the short list of all-time rap legends basically on the strength of just two albums (1994’s “Ready to Die” and 1997’s “Life After Death”). No doubt, Big Poppa deserves to take his place alongside his likewise-slain rival Tupac Shakur as the second solo rapper in the rock hall. And hey, we always like to root for a hometown hero.
Ref: nypost.com