u/Flat_Ad_8335

I do think that if the Rock Hall wants representation of younger-generation blue-collar/conservative listeners (alternative/indie culture represents more middle-class people), they need to push modern country instead of rock revivalists, like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, The Chicks...

A lot of younger traditionalists who would have been heartland rock listeners or arena rock listeners if they were 10–20 years younger are actually country music listeners.

I have seen some quotes saying that some traditionalists think indie music ruined the relevance of rock because it made rock become more shaped by middle-class tastes and swayed it away from its essence of representing ordinary people, so they think indie music is a bad thing. I won't totally agree with that

But yes, I think younger traditionalists need some representation in the Rock Hall. There are still a lot of younger traditionalists who mainly listen to more conservative types of music rather than, for example, alternative or indie. So actually, country has become the new heartland rock and classic rock for a new generation, appealing to a similar audience but at a younger age.

So yes, I think modern country artists like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, and The Chicks need to be in the Rock Hall to represent these traditionalists, and they are better representations of younger traditionalists than classic rock revivalists like The Black Crowes or Melissa Etheridge, considering their sales and lasting influence on that group of people.

Actually, classic rock radio today is no longer really "Boomer radio." It's become more of an early Gen X format, since early Gen X listeners are now the oldest generation still actively working and influencing the programming decisions of many media outlets and radio stations. As a result, the same early Gen X rock songs, especially arena rock and AOR, have been overplayed far more often than their actual popularity would justify, while much of the true Boomer-era rock from roughly 1960 to 1975 has been relatively neglected.

For example, two similarly successful bands at their prime, Grand Funk Railroad has largely been forgotten on classic rock radio, while Kansas is played over and over again, largely because Kansas fits the musical tastes of early Gen X audiences better, whereas Grand Funk Railroad was more representative of Boomer rock.

It should be noted that I did not rank the artists within each tier. Also, you could say that some artists could/should be in a higher or lower tier (and I would have no opinion on that), but generally the differences between the tiers are what matter most. Maybe there are omissions from every tier, but generally you know what I mean.

Tier 1 Canon

1. Nirvana

2. Jay-Z

3. Radiohead

4. Wu-Tang Clan

5. 2Pac

6. OutKast

7. Pearl Jam

8. Eminem

9. The Notorious B.I.G.

10. Mariah Carey

Tier 2 Should 100% Be In / Will 100% Be In

11. Oasis

12. Björk

13. A Tribe Called Quest

14. Nine Inch Nails

15. Mary J. Blige

16. Missy Elliott

17. Lauryn Hill / Fugees

18. Green Day

19. Red Hot Chili Peppers

20. Snoop Dogg

21. Beck

22. Alice in Chains

23. Soundgarden

24. The Smashing Pumpkins

25. Alanis Morissette

26. Rage Against the Machine

27. Nas

28. D'Angelo

29. Erykah Badu

30. TLC

31. Foo Fighters

32. No Doubt

33. Weezer

34. Fiona Apple

Tier 3: BIG, WELL-REVIEWED, OR IMPORTANT (HAVE A SOLID CASE TO BE INCLUDED), BUT (SHOULD) NOT BE TOP PRIORITY; SOME OF THEM WILL BE INCLUDED

35. Dave Matthews Band

36. Sheryl Crow

37. Boyz II Men

38. Tool

39. Usher

40. Destiny's Child

41. Aaliyah

42. Pantera

43. Blur (a special case here, not that big in America, but they can still play venues larger than theaters and smaller than typical arenas. They're not a very bad draw for audiences.)

44. Sinéad O'Connor

45. Stone Temple Pilots

46. Korn

47. System of a Down

48. Blink-182

49. The Offspring

50. Deftones

51. The Cranberries

52. Selena

53. Lenny Kravitz

54. Brandy (I am much higher on her than most people here because I have seen many modern pop, R&B, and alternative R&B Black musicians cite her as a major influence. She may have the support.)

55. Sublime

56. Garbage

57. Cypress Hill (could see it happen: the first breakthrough Latin rap group, fitting the Rock Hall's preference for including more Latin acts, and they are Tom Morello's buddies.)

58. Phish

59. Jane's Addiction

60. Tori Amos

61. Wilco (I could see it happening, even sooner than we think. Rick Krim participated in the Wilco documentary, and they are a rare modern indie band that also fits the tastes of Boomers, so they may get a push.)

62. Maná (the biggest Latin rock act. The Rock Hall will eventually find a way to induct them. I can't see them stopping with only Shakira, Selena, and Gloria Estefan.)

63. Goo Goo Dolls (given their recent popularity and regained coolness with Gen Z, plus industry connections, I feel they are separated from other commercially successful but poorly acclaimed acts and may happen.)

64. Busta Rhymes (more respected, or perhaps a better word is "better connected", than DMX within the music industry, which will play a big part in his case.)

Tier 4 Critics' Darlings / Highly Acclaimed or Influential Acts That Were Never Big

65. PJ Harvey

66. Faith No More (their commercial success and influence are as significant as Jane's Addiction's. Jane's created Lollapalooza, making them stand out and likely ensuring an eventual induction. Faith No More are not commercial failure, but probably not big enough to attract obvious attention on their own.)

67. The Roots (special case: will 100% be in because of Questlove, but their résumé alone is not that strong.)

68. The Flaming Lips

69. Pavement

70. Bikini Kill (because of Kathleen Hanna, they will 100% be in. She hosted a Rock Hall broadcast, so they will get in one way or another.)

71. Jeff Buckley

72. Sleater-Kinney

73. Liz Phair

74. Hole

75. My Bloody Valentine

76. Elliott Smith

Tier 5 ·Huge (or Once Huge), with Average/Poor Critical Acclaim or Not Seen as Especially Important, Could Be Randomly Remembered or Nominated at Any Time

77. DMX (on the border between Tier 3 and Tier 5)

78. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (same as DMX)

79. Spice Girls

80. Toni Braxton

81. Slipknot

82. Limp Bizkit

83. Melissa Etheridge

84. Backstreet Boys

85. Celine Dion

86. The Black Crowes

87. Sarah McLachlan

88. Counting Crows

89. Matchbox Twenty

90. Hootie & the Blowfish

91. 10,000 Maniacs / Natalie Merchant

92. Monica

93. Bush

94. Creed

95. Third Eye Blind

96. Everclear

97. Collective Soul

98. Live

99. Gin Blossoms

100. Candlebox

If the Rock Hall considers modern country, these would be picks:

Garth Brooks

Shania Twain

The Chicks

Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 4 don't need further explanation.

Tier 3 means these acts are important and will/should be serious candidates as time goes on. They need to satisfy at least one of the following: be important and big (but not well acclaimed), or be big and acclaimed (but not that important compared to Tier 2). I expect many acts from this tier will eventually get in, as they should, but not all. Some of them will inevitably be snubbed, just like similar-tier acts from the 60s/70s (the likes of the Monkees, Jethro Tull, Boston...).

Tier 5 is the type of acts that were once, or are still, big enough, but are either badly/averagely acclaimed or not that important. Just big. I could have listed a lot more names here (I just forgot En Vogue when typing), but generally these are the names. Some of them may be nominated for some reason (they were once big, and some Gen X people in the committee room love them), but of course they would be lower-quality nominees.

Acts that are somewhat important and somewhat acclaimed, but never really great in either respect, I don't think will ever be considered serious candidates, so I don't put them here. For instance, Naughty by Nature (I love this group, and one of their members is also a good R&B producer), Maxwell...

The number of rock hall performer inductees in each era (50/60/70/80/90/00s)

I used Claude AI to categorize and count Performer category inductees by era (1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s). Each inductee is classified according to the era in which they made their first significant record, not the era of their debut record.

It may have little error but generally from my eye test most has been right. (For example RHCP should be 90s act but was classified as 80s act)

50s: 53

60s: 89

70s: 77

80s: 36

90s: 19

00s: 1

Rock Hall has done such a great job of celebrating "youth culture" by inducting a whopping 20 acts from the 1990s and 2000s. What a remarkable accomplishment!

50s (53)

1986, Buddy Holly

1986, Chuck Berry

1986, Elvis Presley

1986, Fats Domino

1986, James Brown

1986, Jerry Lee Lewis

1986, Little Richard

1986, Ray Charles

1986, Sam Cooke

1986, The Everly Brothers

1987, B.B. King

1987, Big Joe Turner

1987, Bill Haley

1987, Bo Diddley

1987, Carl Perkins

1987, Clyde McPhatter

1987, Eddie Cochran

1987, Jackie Wilson

1987, Muddy Waters

1987, Ricky Nelson

1987, The Coasters

1988, The Drifters

1989, Dion

1990, Bobby Darin

1990, Hank Ballard

1990, The Platters

1991, Jimmy Reed

1991, John Lee Hooker

1991, LaVern Baker

1991, The Impressions

1992, Bobby "Blue" Bland

1992, Johnny Cash

1992, The Isley Brothers

1993, Etta James

1993, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers

1993, Ruth Brown

1994, Duane Eddy

1996, Little Willie John

1998, Gene Vincent

1998, Lloyd Price

1999, The Staple Singers

2000, The Moonglows

2001, Ritchie Valens

2001, The Flamingos

2004, The Dells

2006, Miles Davis

2009, Little Anthony & the Imperials

2012, The Blue Caps

2012, The Comets

2012, The Crickets

2012, The Famous Flames

2012, The Midnighters

2018, Nina Simone

60s (89)

1987, Aretha Franklin

1987, Marvin Gaye

1987, Roy Orbison

1987, Smokey Robinson

1988, Bob Dylan

1988, The Beach Boys

1988, The Beatles

1988, The Supremes

1989, Otis Redding

1989, Stevie Wonder

1989, The Rolling Stones

1989, The Temptations

1990, Simon & Garfunkel

1990, The Four Seasons

1990, The Four Tops

1990, The Kinks

1990, The Who

1991, Ike & Tina Turner

1991, The Byrds

1991, Wilson Pickett

1992, Booker T. & the M.G.'s

1992, Sam & Dave

1992, The Jimi Hendrix Experience

1992, The Yardbirds

1993, Cream

1993, Creedence Clearwater Revival

1993, Sly & the Family Stone

1993, The Doors

1993, Van Morrison

1994, The Animals

1994, The Band

1994, The Grateful Dead

1995, Frank Zappa

1995, Janis Joplin

1995, Led Zeppelin

1995, Martha & the Vandellas

1995, Neil Young

1996, Gladys Knight & the Pips

1996, Jefferson Airplane

1996, Pink Floyd

1996, The Shirelles

1996, The Velvet Underground

1997, Buffalo Springfield

1997, Crosby, Stills & Nash

1997, Joni Mitchell

1997, The (Young) Rascals

1997, The Bee Gees

1997, The Jackson 5

1998, Fleetwood Mac

1998, Santana

1998, The Mamas & the Papas

1999, Del Shannon

1999, Dusty Springfield

2000, The Lovin' Spoonful

2001, Solomon Burke

2002, Brenda Lee

2002, Gene Pitney

2002, Isaac Hayes

2003, The Righteous Brothers

2004, Traffic

2005, Buddy Guy

2005, Percy Sledge

2007, The Ronettes

2008, Leonard Cohen

2008, The Dave Clark Five

2008, The Ventures

2009, Bobby Womack

2009, Jeff Beck

2010, Jimmy Cliff

2010, The Hollies

2010, The Stooges

2011, Darlene Love

2011, Dr. John

2011, Neil Diamond

2012, Donovan

2012, Laura Nyro

2012, Small Faces / Faces

2012, The Miracles

2015, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

2016, Chicago

2016, Deep Purple

2016, Steve Miller Band

2017, Joan Baez

2018, The Moody Blues

2019, The Zombies

2022, Dolly Parton

2024, Cher

2025, Chubby Checker

2025, Joe Cocker

70s (77)

1994, Bob Marley

1994, Elton John

1994, John Lennon

1994, Rod Stewart

1995, Al Green

1995, The Allman Brothers Band

1996, David Bowie

1997, Parliament-Funkadelic

1998, Eagles

1999, Billy Joel

1999, Bruce Springsteen

1999, Curtis Mayfield

1999, Paul McCartney

2000, Bonnie Raitt

2000, Earth, Wind & Fire

2000, Eric Clapton

2000, James Taylor

2001, Aerosmith

2001, Michael Jackson

2001, Paul Simon

2001, Queen

2001, Steely Dan

2002, Ramones

2002, Talking Heads

2002, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

2003, AC/DC

2003, Elvis Costello & the Attractions

2003, The Clash

2003, The Police

2004, Bob Seger

2004, George Harrison

2004, Jackson Browne

2004, Prince

2004, ZZ Top

2005, The O'Jays

2006, Black Sabbath

2006, Blondie

2006, Lynyrd Skynyrd

2006, Sex Pistols

2007, Patti Smith

2007, Van Halen

2010, ABBA

2010, Genesis

2011, Alice Cooper

2011, Tom Waits

2013, Donna Summer

2013, Heart

2013, Randy Newman

2013, Rush

2014, Cat Stevens

2014, Daryl Hall & John Oates

2014, Kiss

2014, Linda Ronstadt

2014, Peter Gabriel

2015, Bill Withers

2015, Lou Reed

2016, Cheap Trick

2017, Electric Light Orchestra

2017, Journey

2017, Yes

2018, Dire Straits

2018, The Cars

2019, Roxy Music

2019, The Cure

2020, T. Rex

2020, The Doobie Brothers

2021, Carole King

2021, Todd Rundgren

2022, Carly Simon

2023, Kate Bush

2023, The Spinners

2023, Willie Nelson

2024, Foreigner

2024, Kool & the Gang

2024, Peter Frampton

2025, Bad Company

2026, Joy Division / New Order

80s (36)

2005, The Pretenders

2005, U2

2007, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

2007, R.E.M.

2008, John Mellencamp

2008, Madonna

2009, Metallica

2009, Run-D.M.C.

2012, Beastie Boys

2012, Guns N' Roses

2012, Red Hot Chili Peppers

2013, Public Enemy

2015, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

2015, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble

2016, N.W.A

2018, Bon Jovi

2019, Def Leppard

2019, Janet Jackson

2019, Stevie Nicks

2020, Depeche Mode

2020, Nine Inch Nails

2020, Whitney Houston

2021, The Go-Go's

2021, Tina Turner

2022, Duran Duran

2022, Eurythmics

2022, Lionel Richie

2022, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo

2023, George Michael

2024, Ozzy Osbourne

2025, Cyndi Lauper

2026, Billy Idol

2026, Iron Maiden

2026, Luther Vandross

2026, Phil Collins

2026, Sade

90s (19)

2014, Nirvana

2015, Green Day

2017, Pearl Jam

2017, Tupac Shakur

2019, Radiohead

2020, The Notorious B.I.G.

2021, Foo Fighters

2021, Jay-Z

2022, Eminem

2023, Missy Elliott

2023, Rage Against the Machine

2023, Sheryl Crow

2024, A Tribe Called Quest

2024, Dave Matthews Band

2024, Mary J. Blige

2025, Outkast

2025, Soundgarden

2026, Oasis

2026, Wu-Tang Clan

00s (1)

2025, The White Stripes

At this point, the Rock Hall still needs another 10–15 years to finish inducting most of the 90-00s rock acts that have both somewhat respectable critical acclaim (not too bad commercially) and somewhat respectable commercial success (not too badly reviewed), such as Smashing Pumpkins, Coldplay, Weezer, Alice in Chains, Linkin Park, No Doubt, Beck, Björk, definitely more and just to name a few... Maybe even slower given committee is still very conservative.

However, after that, where will the Rock Hall go?

There are two obvious camps:

1. Commercially successful but poorly acclaimed modern butt rock acts: Limp Bizkit, Nickelback, Creed, Goo Goo Dolls, and many others.

2. Commercially not so obvious but critically well-acclaimed indie acts: earlier acts like Jeff Buckley, Pavement, and later acts like Wilco, Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Vampire Weekend, LCD Soundsystem, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and others.

The Strokes somewhat fit into Group 2, but I believe they are big and influential enough to transcend that category and will be inducted anyway, regardless of whichever direction the Rock Hall ultimately goes.

Which direction rock hall will go will depend on the makeup of next committee (after current head John Sykes and Rick Krim stepping down). Then it will decide the fate of lots of candidates falling into but not transcend over two groups. I am also curious to see for example Creed vs Vampire Weekend, and with most younger voters, who can get more votes?

Rap was only younger genre that has been represented better because they are the only genre that younger critics and mainstream people would mutually agree, unlike modern mainstream alternative rock (butt rock) vs indie (hipster music).

I could see Train being inducted in the Rock Hall in the future. (I don't particularly support them or like their music; I'm just thinking realistically.)

1. They have three billion stream songs on Spotify (only Linkin Park and Coldplay from current eligible rock acts exceed this).

2. They have nearly 25 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

3. They are still an arena-touring-level act in America.

Of course, they are the single biggest name in '90s adult contemporary rock/adult alternative/rock revivalist music now (compared to the Black Crowes, Counting Crows, Hooties and Blowfish, Melissa Etheridge...), and they are a white rock band.

Additionally, Pat Monahan appeared for Journey's induction, so he has a connection with the Rock Hall.

Train fits well with the conservative Rock Hall vision of "modern rock" (have to admit they are indeed popular in this case), they fit boomers' "rock and roll."

I could see them being nominated and inducted in the future. Their only major hurdle is that their critical acclaim is insanely bad, seeming to be even worse than Journey's, Foreigner's, and others in that lane.

Just surprised that no one discusses them here.

For modern pop, modern R&B (especially 90s R&B) acts, and rap acts, popularity does not matter that much in voting. In fact, if an act does not have good acclaim, popularity could hurt them instead.

1. We see that every rap inductee in the Main Performer category, every single one of them, was highly acclaimed. None of them had only average acclaim. Commercial success does not mean that much. For example, LL Cool J, who was much bigger commercially than Public Enemy or A Tribe Called Quest, was nominated six times before getting in via side door, while Public Enemy sold far fewer records than LL but was an easy first-ballot inductee. After then, Rock Hall also has not even tried putting famous or popular rap acts without strong acclaim on the Performer ballot at all, instead placing them in side categories (such as Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah), because since LL Cool J struggled to get the votes, similar types of acts probably would as well.

2. Mariah Carey, who was by far the biggest household name on the ballot in recent years, failed again and again, losing to less commercially successful acts like Mary J. Blige and Sade, who sold fewer records than Mariah.

3. This year, the three biggest nominees,Pink, Shakira, and Mariah, none got in, and none of them are highly acclaimed.

I would say this is not surprising because, for younger non-rock acts, if you are not highly acclaimed but are very popular, being more popular may actually hurt you instead. Voters may think you are not a serious musician and instead make "Walmart music."

For rock candidates, the voters are still dominated by Boomers, whose standard is more like, "If you have x Boomer radio hits or y million record sales, then you are a legend."

But there is a general trend that younger voters are much more hipster than older voters.

Also, this is the first year public ballot tracker (by future rock legends) aligns well with final result, and public ballot tracker usually represents the preference of hipsters. It also does correspond to the fact that rock hall head John Sykes said he brought more younger voters in this year.

Modern Rnb/Rap/Modern Pop already shows the more hipster preference, and rock now is probably only genre that the preference of voters is still dominated by old boomers...

For classic rock acts, the next 5–10 years will be the last chance for many of them. The nomination committee is changing every passing year, and the same goes for the voting pool. Finally, the main support base for classic rock, white Boomers and early Gen X people will eventually lose their influence as they age. If the committee eventually becomes dominated by late Gen X or Millennials, then no one will be really enthusiastic about nominating acts that were before their younger memories.

If you really want to count the contenders without considering classic rock, the number of viable names is not that high (those with both commercial success and acclaim, commercially successful acts with at least some critical acclaim, or hugely acclaimed acts with not really bad commercial success), probably around 100. Around 12–15 classes could finish inducting them.

Then we will have ballots that contain mostly commercially successful acts with poor critical acclaim or critically acclaimed acts with poor commercial success.

They will eventually turn to commercially bad but hugely influential (critically acclaimed) acts, just as they finally had to induct JD/NO, Iron Maiden, and Kate Bush after 20 years because the number of "more obvious" candidates in their era was rapidly decreasing. The same thing will happen to lesser acts. Remember, the "quality" (competitiveness) of the ballot is actually declining significantly. Iron Maiden likely finished around #14 in 2026, and three years later, they were rumored to be in the top three in the voting results and were reportedly notified one month before the announcement. Looking like rock hall does not enthusiastic about Maiden or JD-NO or Kate but finally has to induct them as they are running out of other more obvious picks.

Especially as the music landscape in the 2000s and 2010s became increasingly decentralized, very few new "obvious" eligible candidates are being added each year. Have we really thought about LCD Soundsystem/Vampire Weekend as HOFer, or Lim Bizkit/Creed?

In a perfect world, most of 90s remaining S/A tier giants should already be inducted as of today, including AIC, Pumpkins, Weezer, Coldplay, Beck, No Doubt and so forth...

But we are still in the point that a lot of people telling us "38 special (can change with lots of names here and I won't list a lot of them in detail) are serious snub"...

Only rap is at the right pace of including legends among the major 90s genres.

Remember, the Rock Hall is still an institution that is dominated by the preferences of boomers. And the most fervent fans who still care about the Rock Hall are people who think every 70s–80s white rock act with a hit is superior to most famous 00s–20s big names. To them, music died after the appearance of Damn Yankees.

Only rap is better at being recognized because:

1. Older Black people are more receptive to and supportive of later rap than older white people are to later alternative, indie, or metal. Black Crowes and Melissa Etheridge that kind of classic rock revivalists (who are maybe worthy candidates but still nowhere near the names that should be coming up so soon) are probably the only "ROCK and ROLL" that these older white people want to accept.

2. To older white people who want to show they are actually accepting of newer music, they just think rock music does not exist anymore because their favorite rock styles are no longer relevant and only rap is relevant. Rap is the only way to show they are still accepting of "new music." It makes it awkward for both the institution and lots of rap legends (who deserve to be inducted and do not deserve the harsh attacks on them from older white rawk fans).

3. There are way more snubs in alternative, indie, R&B, and modern pop than among boomer-favorite white rock acts. But the fans who are most fervent about the Rock Hall are still 60 to 80 year-old white rock fans. Younger people generally don't care whether their idols are in or not.

This corresponds to pre-alternative white rock culture. You can count the number of Black or female rock stars on one hand (Jimi Hendrix was also mainly the member of a white rock band that actually became famous in England first).

I expect most 00s, and lots of other 90s deserving rock picks will all wait a lot longer than they should. Probably 10-20 years more longer, still both rock hall committee and voters need to become a bit younger. Yeah I would say 80%-90% current people in the commitee room wouldn't know Arctic Monkey is the biggest 10s rock bands on planet now and just think they are some kind of hipster act (just giving an example, if you don't like them fine, I am just stating facts from streaming data perspective).

There are not many viable options. They have to induct likes of Pixies, Smiths, Sonic Youth at some point because they will have no other obvious choice in that era in future...

Induct a B/C/D tier MTV era "star" won't be more appealing than likes of Pixies to general public, especially for younger generation of people...

This year we have already seen "no-one-know in America" Joy Division/New Order got more votes than multiple "famous names" in America...

Are there more than 20 80s non alternative/indie names that would be 100% deserving to be inducted? The number is not very large

Musical Influence has become new "musical excellence" in 2025 and 2026, since two consecutive years ME is only used for inducting sidemen, and producers, songwriters now.

The new consolation price is MI now for acts that failed to be voted in on ballot (Warren Zevon, Gram Parsons, Fela Kuti) or even struggled to appear on ballot (MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah)

New consolation price makes more sense than old one, because every act can be "influence" to some other acts.

Also interestingly, in these two years, every MI inductees are acts post-Beatles, so make me think has rock hall done with inducting 50s/early 60s acts using this category? No to likes of Odetta? Looking like Gram Parsons is oldest one in MI in two years, and everyone else are later era acts.

The Rock Hall committee is still too conservative. Even when it comes to 1990s artists, they seem determined to preserve the traditional rock sound by continuing to nominate retro-rock acts that evoke the "golden age of rock and roll."

I wouldn't be surprised if they keep bringing back acts like The Black Crowes and Melissa Etheridge year after year. After that, they could easily move on to artists such as George Thorogood (though he is in 80s), Hootie & the Blowfish, Counting Crows, and even Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, The Wallflowers...

This shows how the case of Black Crowes are weak, though they are most obvious choice that will be reminded of when people talking about retro rock in 90s, their streaming number, album selling and charts performance and hits in rock ratio in US is not much different to likes of Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, The Wallflowers...

I won't be surprised by any name I mentioned that will be suddenly appeared on ballot.

It feels like they're willing to dig deeper and deeper into the pool of classic-rock-oriented artists in order to keep that tradition alive.

When the last time that a candidate that has been nominated for two times consecutively, failed for first two nominations and then suddenly was forgotten?

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The last time it happened were the Smiths?

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Most cases when you are nominated continuous two times, you will likely be inducted very soon.

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So like it or not, the Black Crowes will be inducted very soon, very possible they will be nominated again next year... I don't love their potential induction, but has to be real that their induction chance is pretty high now. This is why I will predict them every year from now on untill they are in...

Who will follow Joy Division/New Order is actually an open question.

The Smiths

The Smiths may unfortunately be snubbed again because either a lot of people in the committee room cannot stand Morrissey, to the point that they may not even appear on the ballot, or because many voters may refuse to vote for The Smiths simply because they do not want Morrissey inducted.

They should theoretically be the No. 1 option, but due to politics outside of the music itself, they may still be passed over again. In theory, if they appear on the ballot, they should perform no worse than Joy Division/New Order. However, if a certain number of voters strongly dislike Morrissey, they could still fail.

Devo

I am not really sure why the Rock Hall suddenly seemed to forget about Devo from 2023 to 2026. It could be that the Rock Hall has already decided to give up on them as a main performer-category inductee. Or it could simply be because the Hall decided to focus on Joy Division/New Order, who were viewed as a slightly more important snub, and Devo were temporarily pushed aside because of that.

They should still have a good chance with a potential fourth nomination because of the changes in voting politics, but it is not guaranteed, and they could still fail on a fourth attempt. If the Rock Hall wants to play it safe and make sure they induct a local hero for the 2027 ceremony in Cleveland, then they could simply give Devo an Early Influence Award instead.

The B-52's

I remember former committee member Alan Light talking about The B-52's. He basically said the band had momentum, but Cyndi Lauper was considered more influential. And John Sykes once said that he believed The B-52's would appear on the ballot one day, which makes me think they came close to being nominated in at least one cycle. Now that Joy Division/New Order are in, the top priority in that alternative/post-punk lane has been removed from the snub list, so maybe The B-52's now have a clearer path to the ballot. It is definitely possible they were previously pushed aside because of both Joy Division/New Order and Cyndi Lauper.

INXS

INXS will of course continue to be pushed. And with the current voting politics, there is definitely room for induction combinations like INXS/Devo, INXS/The Smiths, or INXS/The B-52's, similar to Billy Idol and Joy Division/New Order this year: one mainstream MTV rock star and one alternative/post-punk act from the 1980s.

Tears for Fears

I think Tears for Fears will eventually become serious contenders, but I am not sure if it will happen as soon as next year. Usually, if an act is not included relatively early in its eligibility period, it often has to wait for older acts to get inducted first. That is why they may still be behind artists like Devo, The B-52's, and The Smiths in the queue.

Pixies

Pixies are an act that could appear on the ballot at almost any time. I am not sure if they will directly take the Joy Division/New Order spot as soon as next year, but they are probably very inductable now that Joy Division/New Order are finally in. They might only need one or two nominations now before getting inducted.

Notable 90s female rocker snubs (in no particular order):

Sinéad O'Connor

Tracy Chapman

Tori Amos

Fiona Apple

Björk

Alanis Morissette

Sarah McLachlan

No Doubt (Gwen Stefani)

Most of them would also be competitive under the current voting climate (unlike Melissa Etheridge). I could probably name around 10 artists in this category, and the Rock Hall has really whiffed on them. They need to start correcting these snubs soon. Even if they induct one of them each year, it would still take a decade to catch up.

Diana Ross

The B-52s

Gloria Estefan

Bryan Adams

Styx

Beyonce

Coldplay

Counting Crows

Motorhead (20)

Lauryn Hill (26)

INXS (26)

Lenny Kravitz (24)

New Edition (26)

Melissa Etheridge (26)

If 15: De La Soul

If 16: Mariah (24 25 26)

If 17: AIC

I know probably Beck did pretty bad in 2022, looks like beck finished dead last or near dead last, but still feel it is time to bring him back to ballot now

Probably was also put aside because of rock hall wants to induct White Stripes and Oasis, two 90s/00s titan acts, first, and don't want Beck to split the votes

So maybe it is time to renominate Beck in 2027, With new voting politics, Beck may be more competitive... Who thought Iron Maiden would go from dead last in 2023 to probably top 3 in 2026. Maybe voters will give good will to Beck next time, at least rock hall should try, right?

And Beck could definitely be competitive against likes of Black Crowes and Melissa Etheridge, right?

Here are some potential 80s–90s contemporary R&B/urban acts with a chance of future Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction:

Tier 1:

Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill (the two strongest remaining urban acts), Usher, Alicia Keys (I know she's more of a 2000s act), TLC (since Rick Krim worked on their documentary, I think their induction will happen sooner than we thought)

Tier 2:

New Edition, Boyz II Men, Aaliyah, Destiny's Child, D'Angelo & Erykah Badu

(I have strong confidence that Tier 1 will be inducted soon, and that most of Tier 2 will eventually get in.)

Tier 3:

Brandy, Anita Baker, Tony Braxton, (maybe En Vogue)

(Tier 3 may be seriously considered in the future, won't be surprised if some of them appear on the ballot and even be voted in)

Others:

Keith Sweat, Jodeci, Maxwell, and lots of others

(Great rnb acts, but their chances are slim to be honest)

Musical Excellence:

Babyface, Teddy Riley, Timbaland, L.A. Reid, (maybe Dallas Austin, Rodney Jerkins)

Any suggestions?