Whitney Houston, The Notorious B.I.G., & Dave Matthews Band Among Nominees For Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

Source: Instagram

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has released their list of nominees for 2020, and it includes nine first timers and seven previous nominees from a mix of musical genres. Now, the next step of the process will include sending 1,000 ballots to musicians, musical historians, and others in the music industry to determine this year’s finalists.

The first time nominees this year include the legendary Whitney Houston, rapper The Notorious B.I.G., and the favorite band of 90s college kids everywhere – Dave Matthews Band.

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Other first-timers include Pat Benatar, Soundgarden, the Doobie Brothers, Motörhead, Thin Lizzy, Soundgarden, and T. Rex. Also on the list are previous nominees Depeche Mode (third nomination), Nine Inch Nails (third nomination), Judas Priest (second nomination), Rufus featuring Chaka Khan (fourth nomination), Todd Rundgren (second nomination), Kraftwerk (nominated for a sixth time), and MC5 (fifth nomination).

“Nothing stays the same in music,” incoming Rock Hall chairman John Sykes recently told Rolling Stone. “Therefore, really, the institution that honors it has to evolve with all the music. Just like hip-hop is very much a part of the Hall of Fame now, everything we do — the board members we have, the events we build on — has to reflect a changing culture without ever disregarding or turning our backs on the ideals and fundamentals of the Rock Hall.”

Artists can be considered for a nomination once it’s been 25 years since the release of their first commercial recording, which means all of the artists on this year’s list of nominees had to have released their first single or album in 1994 or earlier (which means Dave Matthews Band was just barely eligible).

For fans who would like to cast a ballot, they can vote for their favorite nominee until January 10th at rockhall.com or in person at the Hall of Fame in Cleveland. They also have the option of voting through Google by searching “Rock Hall Fan Vote.”

The top five choices from the fan vote will have their votes counted with the votes from music industry experts. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will reveal the results from voting next spring, and the ceremony for the Class of 2020 will take place on May 2nd of next year at Cleveland’s Public Hall.

Introducing your #RockHall2020 Nominees 🎉

Your voice, your vote: Let us know who you think deserves to be a #RockHall2020 Inductee. Join our @KlipschAudio Fan Vote and vote now on @Google: https://t.co/KyAG5Rn12Kpic.twitter.com/muYcwl6vIS

— Rock Hall (@rockhall) October 15, 2019

Last year the awards ceremony took place in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center, and the inductees included Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Def Leppard, The Cure, The Zombies, and Roxy Music.

Hall of Fame tradition is that they announce the individual members of each band that will be inducted, and for solo artists they sometimes mention longtime collaborators. This means that both current and former members of each band have the chance to be included when a group is inducted into the Hall of Fame.