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Rock N’ Roll, Reggae, Funk, Disco, Electronic, Psychedelic Rock, Rhythm and Blues, Folk, Gospel, Country, and Hip-Hop to name a few, are the genres represented with this year’s nominees.

How does the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame work?

Leaders in the music industry joined together in 1983 to establish the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.

Artists or groups are eligible for the Hall 25 years after their first record is released.

Ballots are sent to over 600 members of the music industry, historians, artists as well as every living Rock Hall inductee. Following 2012, the ballots were open to public opinion which is weighted the same as the music industry opinions.

The top 5 vote getters are then inducted into to the iconic Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame.

What is the Rock Hall of Fame?

According to the Rock Hall’s website, the hall was created to recognize the contributions of those who have had a significant impact on the evolution, development and perpetuation of rock and roll by inducting them into the Hall of Fame.

Induction into the Hall is a little different from your usual baseball and basketball Hall of Fames. The Rock Hall is not about popularity, records sales, which label the group is on, or anything other than the process below. The love for, the evaluation of, and the impact of any artist are subjective questions to be answered by the nominators and the voters.

So what does it mean to be a Rock Star?

Abusing drugs, performing edgy music and writing political lyrics will not likely secure your induction into the hall although, many of the inductees have plenty of that in their history of music.

With all the different genres currently in the Rock Hall, why is it not limited to only Rock N’ Rollers? We’ll let N.WA.’s own Ice Cube, which is a perfect example of this, explain:

 

"Rock & roll is not an instrument; rock & roll is not even a style of music. Rock & roll is a spirit. … It's been going since the blues, jazz, bebop, soul, R&B, rock & roll, heavy metal, punk rock and, yes, hip-hop. And what connects us all is that spirit. …Rock & roll is not conforming to the people who came before you, but creating your own path in music and in life."

- Ice Cube, during N.W.A.'s 2016 Rock Hall induction acceptance speech

19 Nominees

Bad Brains – Hardcore Punk & Reggae. Formed 1977

Chaka Khan – Funk – AKA Queen of Funk, Yvette Marie Stevens. Formed 1970s.

Chic – Disco, Funk, Soul – Formed 1976.

Depeche Mode – English , Electronic Rock – 1980.

Electric Light Orchestra – English, Progressive Rock, Symphonic Rock – 1970.

The J. Geils Band – Rock - 1967

Jane’s Addiction – Alternative Rock, Funk Metal, Psychedelic Rock, 1985.

Janet Jackson – R&B, Pop, Hip-Hop 1973

Joan Baez – Folk, Country, Gospel. 1958

Joe Tex – Rock & Roll, Funk, Disco. 1955. Died, Navasota, TX 8/13/1982 at 47. Lived in Baytown. Born in Rogers, TX.

Journey – Rock. 1973

Kraftwerk – German, Electronic. 1969

MC5 – Rock, Garage Rock - 1964

Pearl Jam – Alt Rock, Grunge - 1990

Steppenwolf – Canadian. Rock, Acid Rock - 1967

The Cars – Rock, New Wave, Power Pop - 1976

The Zombies – Rock, R&B - 1962

Tupac Shakur – Hip-Hop. Rapper, Activist, Poet, Actor, Record Producer, Song Writer. 1987-1996. Worked with: Dr. Dre, Ice T, The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg, MC Hammer.

Yes – English. Progressive Rock. 1968.

Story Sources

All of this information on the Nominees and the history behind the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame were gathered from FutureRockLegends.com & RockHall.com

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  1. […] on the ballot for his 5th time and was eligible for nominations in the year 1990. Joe Tex was The 2017 Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Nominees   Rock N’ Roll, Reggae, Funk, Disco, Electronic, Psychedelic Rock, Rhythm and Blues, Folk, […]