The 2024 nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced Saturday, not at the hall in Cleveland or a rock club in New York, but at the Disney/ABC day at the TV Critics Association winter press tour. Nice for me, my two worlds colliding. But what of rock ’n’ roll? Now safely tucked under the wholesome promotional arm of the entertainment behemoth began by the success of Mickey Mouse a century ago?
That mainstream blandness is reflected in the roster of 15 nominees, ten of which are on the ballot for the fis time. To wit: Mariah Carey, Cher, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang, Lenny Kravitz, Oasis, Sinéad O’Connor, Ozzy Osbourne and Sade.
Ruminate on those for a minute.
The other five are repeat nominees: A Tribe Called Quest, Jane’s Addiction, Eric B. & Rakim, Dave Matthews Band and Mary J. Blige.
Not included are such longtime snubs as, well, there are a lot: Warren Jevon, The Jam, Jan & Dean, Mary Wells, The Monkees, Television, Joy Division, MC5, Iron Maiden, New York Dolls, The Smiths, Motorhead, Outkast, Brian Eno, The Replacements, Pixies, Toots and the Maytals, The White Stripes, De La Soul, King Crimson, Tracy Chapman, The B-52’s, Bjork, Big Star, Bad Brains, Bad Company, Captain Beefheart, Deco, Diana Ross, The Flaming Lips, NRBQ, Fugazi, Gram Parsons, The Pogues, Harry Nilsson, Nick Drake, Procol Harum, Queen Latifah, Roberta Flack, War, The Runaways, The Specials, the Wu-Tang Clan. The list goes on.
A Tribe Called Quest has been nominated the most — four times — only to fall in final voting.
Eligibility comes 25 years after the first recording. Nominee ballots will now be sent to “an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians and members of the music industry.” What’s to be taken into consideration? “An artist’s musical impact and influence on other artists, length and depth of career and body of work as well as innovation and superiority in style and technique.”
Final inductees will be announced in late April. The induction ceremony will take place this fall in Cleveland and be broadcast live on Disney+. Last year’s inaugural event there likely brought the most vulgar language ever heard at the streaming network home of Snow White and the Lion King.
Like last year, it will be massively edited and presented as broadcast entertainment New Year’s Day 2025 on ABC.
Last year’s inaugural broadcast brought over 13 million viewers across the two platforms; the new Year’s Day show was the No. 1 among adults 18-49.