Initial Thoughts on the Rock Hall's Class of 2021 Inductees
Earlier in the week, I made a pledge to myself: I would avoid social media and anything Rock-Hall-related the night before they announced the Class of 2021 inductees. There are probably blogs and podcasts already published from my friends and colleagues’ reactions to this year’s class. I’ll catch up on all of them ASAP, but I needed time to clear my head and take a step back to reflect. And work kept me busy yesterday so that caused me to be less active on social media yesterday than I normally would’ve been.
As one of my friends Greg put it perfectly, the morning of the big announcement is the equivalent of Christmas morning for those who follow and write about the Rock Hall. Sometimes you may not like every gift you get (in this case, inductees) but there’s usually at least one that gets you excited. Well, this year we all got some presents that we were expecting and quite a few we didn’t. This blog is meant to be more of a reaction to this year’s class and there will likely be more to follow in the coming months. Without further ado, here are the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021 Inductees:
Performers: Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Jay-Z, Carole King, Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner
Musical Excellence: LL Cool J, Billy Preston, Randy Rhoads
Early Influences: Kraftwerk, Charley Patton, Gil Scott-Heron
Non-Performers: Clarence Avant
At first glance, I’m astounded by the diversity of this class (In the press statement on the Hall’s site, ‘diverse’ is literally the second word). When John Sykes took over as the Chairman of the Rock Hall last year, I wasn’t sure if there would be much change after Jann Wenner’s exit. This year’s ballot showed a commitment to inclusion/diversity as there were more women and people of color on the same ballot than ever before. I remained optimistic that several of those artists would receive enough votes for induction. Let’s just say…thank goodness the class didn’t look anything close to Eddie Trunk’s ballot.
With 13 inductions happening later this year, this is most in nearly a decade and among the five-largest in Hall history. While it’s not perfect by any means (more to be discussed later), this is a way to clear the backlog and ensure the Hall remains a relevant, vibrant, and inclusive institution. Sykes’ reign is starting strong with probably the musically and demographically diverse induction class in recent memory. In many ways, the 2021 Class is the post-COVID-era party that we all deserve and need. As someone who’s had loved ones suffer from COVID, this pandemic has put a lot of things into perspective, and I can honestly say that I love that there are so many people being honored this year. I hold the belief that people should be inducted in their lifetimes and honor them while they’re with us. Sometimes things happen in life that we cannot control but I’m a firm believer that you give people their roses if you can.
I correctly predicted the 6 performers, sans Rage Against the Machine who I thought might sneak in if there were 7 in that category. Most Rock Hall pundits, podcast hosts and bloggers predicted the Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Tina Turner, Carole King and The Go-Go’s. For the most part, there weren’t too many surprises. I’m beyond thrilled to see Tina Turner and Carole King entering the Rock Hall for their much-deserved second time. I’m also pleased with The Go-Go’s as they built momentum for themselves to be viable contenders and the Rock Hall didn’t miss a beat to induct them on their first try. It’s rare to have one first-year eligible inductee but this year we have two with Jay-Z and Foo Fighters entering the Rock Hall. They bring some much-needed representation for the 90s (and beyond) that will allow the nomination committee to consider their contemporaries in the coming years. There was one surprise, however, the induction of Todd Rundgren. I sorta saw this coming as I predicted him but wasn’t exactly too confident as he appeared on the ballot multiple times in recent years. As the lone classic rocker on this year’s ballot, he had a much clearer path to induction, and I figured he must’ve been close in the final tallies to keep coming back (Alan Light confirmed this on SiriusXM yesterday morning). I’m happy for his longtime advocates Michelle Bourg and nomination committee member Karen Glauber, even if Rundgren wants nothing to do with the Rock Hall. I’m surprised he wasn’t penciled in for the Musical Excellence category (for his production work) but, yeah, he got enough votes for induction by the larger voting body so there’s nothing much that could be done. A very well-rounded batch for the performers category that included some huge longtime snubs.
The 7 other inductees were decided by special subcommittees for the Non-Performers, Musical Excellence and Early Influence categories. This is among the most musically eclectic of this year’s class as there are pioneers from jazz, electronica, metal, R&B, hip-hop and blues receiving honors. The Rock Hall has been inconsistent in their handing of other categories beyond the Performers for many years, so all these inductions in a single year is an absolute treat. In the last 5 years, there had been only 5 inductees outside the Performers category and now you get 7 in 2021. My one caveat is that no women were selected for induction outside the performers category this year (especially when you have Tina Turner and Carole King entering the Rock Hall for a second time and they aren’t increasing the number of female voters beyond the five living members of The-Go-Go’s). Regardless of this one gripe, this is an amazing development that makes me optimistic the Hall will better utilize their other categories going forward. The Rock Hall is clearly expanding its parameters and the definitions in their attempt to tell a richer story of rock and roll and its history.
Yeah, some of the categories are very messy and inconsistent this year. The Early Influence category, for example, focused on artists whose influence predated the birth of rock and roll. Well, this year the category things have been radically altered as Kraftwerk and Gil Scott-Heron, both of whom released their first records in 1970, will be honored in that category. Even the category is redefined on the Hall’s website and now states it’s given to artists who “have directed influenced and helped inspire and evolve rock & roll and music that has impacted youth culture.” Personally, I think it’s a bit of stretch to call them “early influences” and the redefinition is a tad too loose unless they revise the name of the category. But I can live with it. An induction is an induction no matter how many ways you frame it. If you asked most music fans, they don’t care about the categories as much as those who closely follow the Rock Hall year-round. Sometimes award categories are ripe for reclassification and that’s how this subcommittee viewed it. To avoid criticisms over what constitutes consideration in this category, I’d suggest they drop “early” or call it “pioneers.” There, problem solved.
In a perfect world, would I like to see Kraftwerk and LL Cool J receive inductions in the Performers category? Absolutely but, let’s face it, we’re dealing with a broken system that is damaged almost beyond repair. I used to hold a more regimented belief of how inductions should be handled. But I would rather see someone get inducted into the Rock Hall than to never get inducted at all. Some people seem to get hung up on categories and it really doesn’t bother me as much as it would’ve when I started my blog 3 years ago. If you wanted some of these artists in the Rock Hall and they are finally putting them in, you should be pleased. I, nor you, have any control over any of the decisions the Rock Hall makes and it’s gonna happen whether we like it or not.
The more I think about it, the more I believe the Rock Hall isn’t as much at fault with the constant snubs of Kraftwerk and LL Cool J. But rather it’s a failure on the part of the larger voting body as Lyor Cohen, a member of the Hall’s board of Directors, wrote in Billboard last month. The nomination committee has continuously supported the candidacies of both artists and they were passed over by the voters every time they were on the ballot. What is the Rock Hall and its nomination committee supposed to do then? It’s not perfect and not even the most ideal, but they had to do something. In a weird way, now the nomination committee can move on from these repeatedly snubbed artists and nominate artists waiting in the backlog. In the John Sykes era, inclusivity and diversity is the main mission and if you’re resistant to it, you’ll likely be left behind.
Like I said earlier, I will most likely publish more blogs on the latest class because there is so much to digest and analyze. I didn’t wanna take up too much time but I’d love to dive a little deeper on the likes of Patton, Rhoads and Avant in the near future. Despite its imperfections, the Class of 2021 has the potential to be one of the all-time greatest in Rock Hall ceremony history. It’s what John Sykes and company does with this class is now the million-dollar question. I’m looking forward to more developments and news on this year’s Rock Hall class over the next several months.
