@diehardbrownsfan said:

Rock and Roll is dead.  There are no more great bands.  Music today sucks balls.

See #1:

@the-gipper said:

What about this guy that just died:

Johnny Hallyday.    He was like the biggest rock n roll icon in France.  It is said he essentially imported Rock n Roll to France.

(or..is the RRHOF only limited to people who have 'made it" in the USA?)

Has anyone heard anything by this guy?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Hallyday

I say he should be in.  Of course there are many acts in the HOF that aren't American.  However, they have achieved commercial/critical success in U.S.A.  The R&R HOF appears to have a blind spot in this regard.

"During a career spanning 57 years, he released 79 albums and sold more than 80 million records worldwide, mainly in the French-speaking world, making him one of the best-selling artists in France and in the world.^[5] He won 5 diamond albums, 40 golden albums, 22 platinum albums and 10 Music Victories.^[6] He sang nearly 1,000 songs and performed 540 duets with 187 artists. Credited for his strong voice and his spectacular shows, he sometimes arrived by entering a stadium through the crowd and one time by jumping from a helicopter above the Stade de France, where he has performed 9 times. Among his 3,257 shows completed in 187 tours, the most memorable were at Bercy in 1993, at the Stade de France in 1998 (just after France's win in the Football World Cup) and at the Eiffel Tower in 2000, which are all regarded as record-breaking performances in term of ticket sales for a French artist. A million spectators gathered to see his performance at the Eiffel Tower, joined by 9 million more watching on TV."

@jbluhm86 said:

Metallica was inducted back in 2009.

I thought they had been.  I must have overlooked them.

@the-gipper said:

I basically agree....except that you could have put in much more well known (and more deserving?) acts than her.   Including the following who have sold over 100 million records...and who ARE eligible for inclusion:

Mariah Carey  (she is like half and half..no?)

Whitney Houston

(how is it that Nina Simone is considered more "rock n roll" than the above two?)

Barry White.

Also....here is a list of all the other artists that have sold over 100 million records, yet who are not in the RRHOF:

Celine Dion

Frank Sinatra

Barbara Streisand

Phil Collins  (as solo)

Metallica

The Backstreet Boys

Garth Brooks

Kenny Rogers

Julio Iglesias

The Carpenters

Def Leppard

Cher  (and or Sonny and Cher)

Olivia Newton John

Metallica was inducted back in 2009.

@westside-steve said:

Then people will be bitching that Franz Liszt, Scott Joplin or or Debussy has been snubbed... 

WSS

Rock me Amadeus!

The RRHOF was founded in 1983, but since then, more genres have appeared, and though they may not resemble rock at first listening, they exist thanks to it and keep some of its heritage. Imagine if there was a Classic Music Hall of Fame: few people write something similar to Classic Music nowadays, still there are the roots of most of the music we listen to. 

At the same time, music changes and the mainstream varies as the years go, so if the RRHOF still wants to be popular in the news, they're going to start inducting people that current generations of music listeners know about.

That being said, of the finalists I give recognition to Radiohead and Rage Against the Machine. Radiohead could be considered closer to Pop, but RATM is a great mix of powerful Rock riffs with Rap, a great original and succesful combo, in my opinion.

• Bon Jovi
• Kate Bush
• The Cars
• Depeche Mode
• Dire Straits
• Eurythmics
• The J. Geils Band
• Judas Priest
• LL Cool J
• MC5
• The Meters
• The Moody Blues
• Radiohead
• Rage Against the Machine
• Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
• Nina Simone
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe
• Link Wray
• The Zombies ^[146]

^{Any travesty of justice here?}

Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson are not in the RRHOF.....but Johnny Cash is. And Hank Williams is.

@westside-steve said:

Then of course it's the age-old argument what is rock and roll? Who qualifies and who doesn't? I'd say there are plenty of guys who don't but it's such a blurry line. Is Charles Mingus jazz? Is Kenny G? Is Miles Davis? Chuck Mangione?

WSS

Well, with some of the acts I mentioned, I don't think we have to have that argument.

For many of them, the question is where is the line between Rock and Pop?   Celine Dion, Cher, Carey, Whitney Barbara...all major "Pop" stars...but get no run from the RRHOF.

Then you go to early influences.  Wouldn't Sinatra at least fall into that category if now where else?

Johnny Hallyday.    He was like the biggest rock n roll icon in France.  It is said he essentially imported Rock n Roll to France.

(or..is the RRHOF only limited to people who have 'made it" in the USA?)

Has anyone heard anything by this guy?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Hallyday

@the-gipper said:

I basically agree....except that you could have put in much more well known acts than her.   Including the following who have sold over 100 million records:

Mariah Carey  (she is like half and half..no?)

Whitney Houston

(how is it that Nina Simone is considered more "rock n roll" than the above two?)

Barry White.

Also....here is a list of all the other artists that have sold over 100 million records, yet who are not in the RRHOF:

Celine Dion

Frank Sinatra

Barbara Streisand

Phil Collins  (as solo)

Metallica

The Backstreet Boys

Garth Brooks

Kenny Rogers

Julio Iglesias

The Carpenters

Def Leppard

Cher  (and or Sonny and Cher)

Olivia Newton John

Then of course it's the age-old argument what is rock and roll? Who qualifies and who doesn't? I'd say there are plenty of guys who don't but it's such a blurry line. Is Charles Mingus jazz? Is Kenny G? Is Miles Davis? Chuck Mangione?

WSS

@westside-steve said:

Nina Simone the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee to satisfy the music business version of the Rooney Rule.

WSS

I basically agree....except that you could have put in much more well known (and more deserving?) acts than her.   Including the following who have sold over 100 million records...and who ARE eligible for inclusion:

Mariah Carey  (she is like half and half..no?)

Whitney Houston

(how is it that Nina Simone is considered more "rock n roll" than the above two?)

Barry White.

Also....here is a list of all the other artists that have sold over 100 million records, yet who are not in the RRHOF:

Celine Dion

Frank Sinatra

Barbara Streisand

Phil Collins  (as solo)

Metallica

The Backstreet Boys

Garth Brooks

Kenny Rogers

Julio Iglesias

The Carpenters

Def Leppard

Cher  (and or Sonny and Cher)

Olivia Newton John

WSS

The Moody Blues were always high on this sort of list.....but not that is over.

Who now?

@the-gipper said:

The Moody Blues

The Cars

Dire Straits

Bon Jovi

Nina Simone

Sister Rosetta Tharpe in early influence category

(Who is Nina Simone...and why was she chosen?)

Induction ceremony is April 14, 2018     Cleveland, Ohio

Who knows what the criteria the definitions are.

Biggest surprise, for me, is The Moody Blues not being inducted earlier.

Nina Simone was some type of heroine-infused, jazz (?) singer who - supposedly - was an inspiration to Black America.  Netflix had a documentary about her.  I lasted 15 minutes.

@the-gipper said:

The Moody Blues

The Cars

Dire Straits

Bon Jovi

Nina Simone

Sister Rosetta Tharpe in early influence category

(Who is Nina Simone...and why was she chosen?)

Induction ceremony is April 14, 2018     Cleveland, Ohio

Nina Simone is a dame. 

WSS