2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Include Motörhead, Judas Priest, Nine Inch Nails, and Soundgarden
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced its nominees for the class of 2020, and there are a handful of metal bands on the ballot — specifically, Judas Priest and Nine Inch Nails, who have been nominated before, and Mötorhead and Soundgarden, who have not. There are also some nominees who influenced a lot of metal bands even if they themselves aren’t metal per se, like Thin Lizzy, T.Rex, and MC5 (also, Depeche Mode, who seem to be loved by every metal musician ever). Of the sixteen total nominees, only the five that receive the most votes from the HoF’s, uh, voters will get in.
Induction into this tourist trap is pretty meaningless, but I know a lot of people get worked up over this shit, so let’s discuss the odds of any of these artists making it in.
Here’s the full list of nominees, followed by my scholarly analysis:
- Nine Inch Nails
- The Notorious B.I.G.
- Kraftwerk
- Whitney Houston
- Dave Matthews Band
- Depeche Mode
- Motörhead
- Soundgarden
- The Doobie Brothers
- Rufus (featuring Chaka Khan)
- Judas Priest
- MC5
- Todd Rundgren
- Thin Lizzy
- T.Rex
- Pat Benatar
Well, I’d imagine Whitney, Biggie and The Doobie Brothers are all a lock. So that’s three spots right there. I would also suspect that Soundgarden has a good shot at getting in, because Chris Cornell’s tragic suicide is still very fresh in people’s minds. That leaves one spot. I honestly have no idea who those will go, but I doubt it will be Judas Priest or Mötorhead or Nine Inch Nails. If one of those acts were to get the vote, I’d give the slight edge to Mötorhead because of Lemmy. Although Trent Reznor has an Oscar so who knows. It definitely won’t be Judas Priest. Sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think that Rufus and Chaka Khan have a real chance of getting in, either. And honestly, I think the only nominee who is out-and-out AWFUL is Dave Matthews. If he gets in over a metal band we should all take to the streets and burn Birkenstocks in protest.
The inductees will be announced in January. Feel free to head to the comments section to your own guesses as to who will and will not get in.
