Source: Rolling Stone / Getty
The list of this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees is officially out.
This year’s inductees include Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliot, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and the Spinners, who will all joining the class of 2023 in the performer category.
Chaka Khan, Al Kooper, and Bernie Taupin will receive the Musical Excellence Award, DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray will be presented with the Musical Influence Award, and Don Cornelius is getting the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
The induction ceremony will be held on Nov. 3 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Details of the TV broadcast will be announced on a later date.
“We’re very happy with this year’s class,” says Rock and Roll Hall of Fame CEO and President Joel Peresman. “People always try to pigeonhole what rock and roll is, but our story has always been that it’s a wide tent. It includes all different kinds of genres. We think this class really shows the breadth of rock and roll. When you have Missy Elliot, Sheryl Crow, and the Spinners along with Rage Against The Machine and Willie Nelson, you’re covering a lot of things.”
“Does a Willie Nelson fan know anything about Missy Elliott? Probably not, and vice versa,” Peresman added. “But this is an opportunity for someone who is into one of these artists to take a look at it and say ‘Gee, I love Missy Elliott’ or ‘I love Rage Against the Machine. But The Spinners, who are they? Let me check that out.’ If that can open some minds and open some attitudes, then we’ve done our job.”
Nominees who didn’t make the cut this time included iron Maiden, Cyndi Lauper, A Tribe Called Quest, The White Stripes, Joy Division/New Order, Soundgarden and Warren Zevon. While the late Zevon has been eligible since 1994, Billy Joel pushed for his entry, writing to the nominating committee urging them to consider Zevon.
