The 2024 Rock Hall of Fame Mixed Bag Of Nominees – And Our Ballot Selections

I glanced up at the calendar the other day and realized we’re back in the midst of another election season. Suddenly I was being inundated with emails, urging me to vote. I take voting very seriously so I appreciated the first ten or twenty emails. It was then that I realized I had to get out there and vote! Of course we’re talking about the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame ballot here – we’re not a political blog! Although we have posted a playlist in honor of our “election fatigue” before.

After last year’s failure to induct Warren Zevon, I don’t know why I even care about the Rock Hall and their annual nominations. Yet, here I am in 2024 and I’m still paying attention to the annual release of the list of nominees. And yes, I even voted (which I’ll share below). You can vote every day, although I’m not that obsessive… and I’m not sure if the audience vote means anything? Beyond Zevon, there were other worthy bands on the ballot last year who have apparently dropped off the nominee list, even though they’re still eligible and didn’t make it into the Hall last year, including the White Stripes, heavy metal stalwarts Iron Maiden and grunge-era hard rockers Soundgarden. Sigh.

At this point, as the Hall nominates and inducts (along with rock artists) Hip Hop artists and pop artists, and I think it might be time for a name change. I know there are a lot of hard core rock fans who grouse about say, Missy Elliott being inducted last year. I don’t have a problem with that or any other Hip Hop artist’s induction. And frankly I was happy that pretentious d-bag Jann Wenner was removed from the Board of Directors. When the Hall first opened they were making up for lost time and focused on rock n roll artists from the 50’s (Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry etc) and the 60s (Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Who, Hendrix, The Supremes). Those decades, the 50s and the 60s were the years when rock n roll was the dominant genre (and one could probably say that about the 70s and 80s). But as the years go by and they expand to other decades and genres it’s really not a “Rock” Hall of Fame anymore, it’s more of a Pop Music Hall of Fame. So why not change the name to say, Music Hall of Fame. It’s more inclusive and it would kill a lot of the “Artist XYZ is not rock” complaints.

I’ve actually been to the Rock Hall and I loved it. I thought it was a great experience for any music fan (of any genre). I was actually pleasantly surprised by Cleveland, a city that gets a bad rap. I found a great Lebanese restaurant…  I think if they renamed it Music Hall of Fame or Pop Music Hall of Fame, they’d get even more traffic to this thing. But hey, that may just be me.

Here is the list of the 2024 nominees. You can, if you even care, vote for your picks at: https://www.rockhall.com/ – and you can vote as many times as you want, once a day until voting is closed:

• Mary J. Blige
• Mariah Carey
• Cher
• Dave Matthews Band
• Eric B. & Rakim
• Foreigner
• Peter Frampton
• Jane’s Addiction
• Kool & The Gang
• Lenny Kravitz
• Oasis
• Sinead O’Connor
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Sade
• A Tribe Called Quest

As I said in my title, it’s a real mixed bag of genres and acts. The list has rock n roll, soul, pop, and Hip Hop artists. There’s a little something for everyone. I like a lot of these artists. I know my friend J. (name obscured to protect the guilty) will be upset if I don’t start off by saying that Cher is very much deserving of nomination. The woman has had hits in multiple decades. Her early years in Sonny & Cher were like a more pop centric, mini-Mamas And The Papas thing… I just can’t get past that whole “If I Can Turn Back Time”-era. Mary J. Blige has a voice for the ages. Mariah Carey is curious to me only because I equate her with Xmas now… and I hate most Xmas music. Kool & The Gang evokes disco to me, so, I’m kinda out on that one. But in terms of a Pop Music Hall of Fame, sure why not Kool and his Gang? The late Sinead O’Connor is certainly a deserving nomination. And I truly love Sade. I used to have a few of her albums… they’ve disappeared like so many of my relationships. I hate to admit, I’ve never heard of Eric B. & Rakim and know precious little about A Tribe Called Quest. That’s on me, I should have been more adventurous musically over the years. I’m just a rock n roll guy at heart.

With all that said, and I’m slightly embarrassed to admit this, I went with a real “Bro”-centric voting ballot this year. I probably should have thought harder about Sade and Sinead O’Connor. I like both those artists and there’s nothing more rock n roll than being an activist like Sinead. But I ended up voting for all dudes this year. I went with my gut and this ballot it was all testosterone. In my defense, you can only vote for seven nominees, so that was limiting… I feel like 8 votes would have been better. Here’s who I voted for:

1. Ozzy Osbourne – Ozzy’s already in as a member of Sabbath but who doesn’t love his solo work as well? He’s still putting out great LPs like Ordinary Man and Patient Number 9. His first few solo LPs with Randy Rhoads are essential rock n roll 101. Ozzy, like Rod Stewart or the various members of the Beatles, deserves to be in the Hall in both his group and as a solo artist.
2. Lenny Kravitz – I’m a Lenny Kravitz fan from day 1. Let Love Rule was a great debut album and Are You Gonna Go My Way is a masterpiece. If you haven’t checked out his latter day LP Strut, I urge you to do so post haste. Lenny has a new LP coming and has already released the sexy single “TK421” which we loved around here.
3. Jane’s Addiction – I was late to the Jane’s bandwagon, turned onto them by the Rock Chick. Perry Farrell is a shining light in the darkness of this world. Dave Navarro is an underrated guitarist. They’re intermittent career is worth exploring in depth. I enjoyed the 2011 LP The Great Escape Artist as well…
4. Oasis – Say what you want about the Brothers Gallagher (I’m on team Liam whose new single “Just Another Rainbow” is sensational), while their antics sometimes overshadowed things, Oasis was a great band. Ah, when brothers form bands… And if I didn’t vote for them the Rock Chick would banish me to the garage.
5. Peter Frampton – Is there a guitar player with a sweeter tone than Frampton? I know most people fixate on his landmark live album, Frampton Comes Alive, I’ve always been partial to his first few studio albums, which are criminally underrated. I even loved his blues-covers album from a few years ago, All Blues. Frampton belongs in the Hall.
6. Dave Matthews Band – Oh, how we all loved the DMB during those early first couple of albums. I saw them live and really dug them. I even took the Rock Chick to see them in the early days after having just met her… which was quite different from our first show together, AC/DC, but I digress. I haven’t seen the DMB for over 20 years, and despite not loving their last LP, Walk Around The Moon, I felt these guys deserve to be in the Rock Hall.
7. Foreigner – Yes, call it a guilty pleasure if you wish, I still love Foreigner. Their first four albums were part of the soundtrack of my junior high and high school years. We all dug Foreigner. Now they tour without any original members – maybe guitarist/songwriter Mick Jones is still around? Any LP without original lead singer Lou Gramm is criminal in my mind, it’s just not Foreigner without him. I saw them at a Summer Jam in 1982 when they were on the 4 tour…”Juke Box Heroes” indeed. I loved the vault release of their Live At The Rainbow ’78, recorded right after their first tour and before Double Vision came out… definitely worth checking out.

That’s my ballot folks. Yes, it’s “bro-centric.” Admittedly, there are way too many dudes on my list. I have to admit I wasn’t as jazzed about the candidates this year as I was last year, but these are all still great, deserving acts. Still, I kind of wish I’d had room on my ballot for Sade… I’ve always dug that silky voice. Why great acts like Soundgarden and Zevon fell off the nominee list is a mystery only the Rock Hall can solve?

As always, I’m not telling anybody who to vote for… I’m just asking you to vote for the artists you love. I’m a lover, not a fighter. What can I say, I just love that whole Democracy, voting thing.

Cheers and let Freedom Ring!