u/Flat_Ad_8335

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?

hip-hop is quickly running out of obvious pre-2000 candidates.

With the 2026 class, the Rock Hall already moved on two of the clearest names: Wu-Tang Clan and Lauryn Hill both with all of strong commercial success, major name recognition, and huge critical acclaim.

Then you have Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, and 50 Cent, who are huge stars but maybe not viewed as highly from a pure artistic standpoint.

The next 1990s rap act that should be nominated, aside from Lauryn Hill, is Nas. His run of seven consecutive platinum albums, plus having one of the greatest rap albums ever in Illmatic, should make him a very obvious choice. But I'm not sure why the Rock Hall doesn't seem to value him that highly.

Dr. Dre is also very deserving, but I feel the Rock Hall may prioritize other rap acts who have never been inducted first, then give Dre his second induction maybe ten years later after adding several more hip-hop acts.

De La Soul and Eric B. & Rakim are probably the only two 1980s rap acts that might realistically be considered for Performer induction, but to be honest they are a bit niche in mainstream terms. Maybe De La Soul could follow ATCQ and be voted in as perfomer. Not sure about EBAR now.

I feel The Roots will be FYN purely because Questlove knows everyone. But even then, it still feels like there should be at least ten rap acts inducted before them.

For newer generations (such as Gen Z), casual listeners may not be very different from casual listeners of older generations. Most casual listeners simply follow chart hits and have relatively limited music knowledge.

However, future younger-generation music voters are different. They are usually passionate and dedicated core music fans with broader musical perspectives, and they are strongly influenced by Pitchfork and Rate Your Music. Because of that, some "niche" artists and works carry major importance to them.

Many older core listeners have long dominated Rock Hall voting, but their musical perspective has often been narrower.

Rock Hall voting has always been driven by core listeners, regardless of generation. Casual listeners generally have little influence.

Pitchfork and Rate Your Music will definitely have an impact in the future, but probably around ten years from now. They already strongly influence younger generations of core music fans. And the people most likely to become future Rock Hall voters are these core listeners, casual listeners were and will not be major force in rock hall voting.

So when John Sykes (and Rick Krim) step aside, figures like Dave Grohl, Questlove, and Tom Morello, who seem "young" and "cool" today, will eventually become the new old guard. At that point, the committee may lean more toward hipster tastes. The annual nominee lists may then reflect both Pitchfork / Rate Your Music influence and streaming-chart popularity.

Remember when John Sykes said that "more younger voters supported acts that would have had no chance five years ago." He was likely referring to Joy Division / New Order. They were voted in over many commercially bigger names because they are highly influential among younger core listeners.

Acts like My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins could have far better chances ten years from now. Even Billie Eilish has mentioned listening to My Bloody Valentine. Younger core music listeners, who are much more likely to participate in Rock Hall voting than younger casual listeners, are more hipster-minded than many people think.

And John Sykes understands this. He already said that the next five years would focus on correcting overlooked snubs from the 1980s. After that, he may pass the torch to the next generation, who may then push for 1990s artists and more niche legends admired by younger generations of core listeners.