![]() Today it’s the Schlock and Roll Hall of Fame. Each year, the hall inducts some characters that are deserving or long overdue - Eminem and Dolly Parton last year, Missy Elliott and Willie Nelson this year. ![]() But these are overshadowed, and I would argue diminished, by the trivial (Pat Benatar, Duran Duran), second-tier (Sheryl Crow, Foo Fighters), and wholly ridiculous (Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar’s husband) who now seem to accompany every annual slate. What unites those names is commerciality and celebrity. In the music world, there are also best-selling charts, gold and platinum records, oodles of cheesy award shows, multimillion-dollar contracts and endorsement deals, and all of the other louche means this very louche industry has at its disposal to make their lives even nicer. Ideally, there might be one place - a hall of fame, say - where something other than simple celebrity is recognized. The big hall news this year is the final debauching of Jann Wenner, after he opined in the New York Times that female stars weren’t “articulate enough on this intellectual level” - and, when challenged, doubled down. He left the chairmanship in 2020 but had stayed on as a member of the hall’s nominating committee. What follows is a list of all of the regular inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, listed in order from best to worst. Along the way we’ll look at the hall’s origins and how it has evolved, with comments from members of the selection committees past and present. (My interview with Wenner was conducted years before his comments in the Times.) The list is revised each year changes in rankings and things like the resolution of hall oversights are duly noted where appropriate. ![]() The rankings below are for the most part made on the basis of the appropriateness of each artist’s induction based on stated hall criteria, not their baseline quality or my personal fondness for the artists in question. Were the acts influential? Were they the first? Are they simply brilliant at whatever it is they do? (There are a few bands I personally like a lot on the bottom half of the list.) I know there aren’t enough women more on that anon. Individual inductees with previous careers in bands (Lou Reed, Paul McCartney, etc.) are ranked on the basis of their solo work alone. That’s why Stevie Nicks, for example, is ranked where she is her solo career - i.e., aside from her work in Fleetwood Mac, which was great and for which she’s already in the hall - is marginal.
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