Presented by Klipsch Audio, the nominees for the 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame have been announced and Whitney Houston, Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan and Notorious B.I.G. all made the list.
Performers qualified for the nomination if they released an album 25 years before the date of induction; in others words the first record had to be released before 1995. About 5 to 7 performers can be inducted into the Hall of Fame per year.
Whitney Houston
The nomination is the first time that Houston has ever been considered for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which is surprising given her exceptionally impressive discography. Houston released 3 albums within the qualifying time frame that made her eligible for nomination years ago. She became eligible in 2009.
These albums, Whitney Houston (1985), Whitney (1987) and I’m Your Baby Tonight (1990) were all platinum albums selling a combined 67 million records worldwide, which is unheard of today. The “I Will Always Love You” singer is well overdue for induction and it’s a shame that she couldn’t receive the honor before her untimely death in 2012.
Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan
Funky R&B band Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan became eligible in 1999. The 9-member band has been nominated several times before, in 2012, 2018, 2019 and now, 2020. The Chicago band’s biggest hits include, “Tell Me Something Good”, “Sweet Thing”, “Hollywood”, “Do You Love What You Feel” and “Ain’t Nobody”.
Notorious B.I.G.
For the first time ever, Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie, is receiving the nomination. The Brooklyn-bred lyricist is the only rapper to make the nomination list this year with his debut album Ready To Die released in 1994, qualifying him for consideration. He became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2019.
Before his life was cut short, the Bad Boy artist was able to release two studio albums, Ready To Die (1994) and Life After Death (1997). Both albums went platinum selling a combined 10 million-plus records worldwide. Bad Boy label head P. Diddy released 3 posthumous albums between 1999 and 2017. Some of his most influential songs include, “Juicy”, “One More Chance”, “Warning”, “Hypnotize”, “Mo Money Mo Problems” and “Sky’s The Limit”.
How To Vote
There are two ways to vote. Fans can either conduct a Google search in which the nominees will automatically pop up in the search engine enabling voters to vote right on the spot. Or fans can go to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame website www.rockhall.com to vote, which requires voters to log in.
Voters have until January 10, 2020 to vote for their favorite music artist. The ballot allows voters to pick up to 5 nominees. These 5 nominees will be tabulated into the Fans’ Ballot, which will be counted with other ballots to ultimately choose who will be the 2020 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees.
The induction ceremony will be held on May 2, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio at the Public Auditorium.
Check out the full list of nominees for the class of 2020:
- Pat Benatar
- Dave Matthews Band
- Depeche Mode
- The Doobie Brothers
- Whitney Houston
- Judas Priest
- Kraftwerk
- MC5
- Motörhead
- Nine Inch Nails
- The Notorious B.I.G.
- Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
- Todd Rundgren
- Soundgarden
- T.Rex
- Thin Lizzy
