The nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 are in, and the list features Eminem, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Duran Duran, Beck, Pat Benatar, Carly Simon, A Tribe Called Quest, Kate Bush, Devo, Judas Priest, Eurythmics, Fela Kuti, MC5, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine, and Dionne Warwick. The top vote-getters will be announced in May and inducted in the fall.
“This year’s ballot recognizes a diverse group of incredible artists, each who has had a profound impact on the sound of youth culture,” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Chairman John Sykes said in a statement. “Their music not only moved generations, but also influenced the sound of countless artists that followed.”
To be eligible for this year’s ballot, each nominee’s first single or album had to have been released in 1996 or earlier. Seven of the nominees (Beck, Eminem, Duran Duran, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, and A Tribe Called Quest) are on the ballot for the first time, but Eminem is the only one to appear in his first year of eligibility. His debut LP Infinite was released in 1996.
This is the sixth nomination for MC5, the fourth nomination for Rage Against the Machine, the third for Kate Bush, Devo, Eurythmics, Judas Priest, and the New York Dolls, and the second nomination for Pat Benatar, Fela Kuti, and Dionne Warwick.
Once again. the Hall of Fame has named the individual band members that will enter should their group get inducted. For Duran Duran, they selected the classic lineup of vocalist Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, guitarist Andy Taylor, bassist John Taylor, and drummer Roger Taylor along with “Ordinary World”-era guitarist Warren Cuccurullo. “Just to make it onto the nominations list is an honor that I never expected to experience,” Le Bon said. “This distinction is due in large part to the fact that we have an army of fans around the world who have unwaveringly supported us for the past four decades.”
For Judas Priest, they picked drummer Les Binks, guitarist K. K. Downing, vocalist Rob Halford, bassist Ian Hill, drummer Dave Holland, guitarist Glenn Tipton, and drummer Scott Travis.
The New York Dolls members selected were singer David Johansen, bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane, drummer Billy Murcia, drummer Jerry Nolan, bassist Sylvain Sylvain, and guitarist Johnny Thunders.
Rage Against The Machine didn’t require the Hall of Fame to make many judgement calls. From day one, they have been bassist Tim Commerford, singer Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, and drummer Brad Wilk. For a Tribe Called Quest, they went with Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife Dawg, Q-Tip, and Jarobi White.
The Devo members named by the Hall were guitarist Bob Casale, bassist/vocalist Gerald Casale, singer Mark Mothersbaugh, guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh, and drummer Alan Myers.
The MC5 lineup of bassist Michael Davis, guitarist/singer Wayne Kramer, guitarist/singer Fred “Sonic” Smith, drummer Dennis Thompson, and singer Rob Tyner were picked. And Pat Benatar was named along with her husband and longtime guitarist Neil Giraldo.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is often the place where estranged bandmates reunite for the evening. There aren’t many possibilities of that this time around, though it is possible that Duran Duran could play with former guitarists Andy Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo. It’s also an opportunity for Judas Priest to perform with former guitarist K.K. Downing and Seventies drummer Les Binks, and a chance for Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox to play again as Eurythmics.
A voter pool of more than 1,000 artists, historians, journalists, and members of the music industry will select the new class. Starting today, fans will also have a chance to take part in the process by voting at rockhall.com or at an interactive kiosk at the museum in Cleveland. Their selections will count as a single “fan ballot” that gets tabulated along with the others.
In recent years, the Hall of Fame has brought in several acts not on the ballot by giving them The Award for Musical Excellence, The Ahmet Ertegun Award, or the Musical Excellence Award. These picks are made solely by the Nominating Committee, and will be announced in May along with the rest of the class of 2022.
The 2021 class was inducted into the Hall of Fame October 30th, 2021 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. They have not yet said where the 2022 ceremony will take place.
NEWS
Harry Styles paid tribute to the late David Hockney and reflected on his time in One Direction last night (June 12), as he kicked off his record-breaking residency at Wembley Stadium.
Hockney – whose painting of Styles was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in 2023 – died on June 11, aged 88, and the musician honoured him during his set by sharing a quote from the painter on the big screens.
“What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something, because of course art is about sharing,” the quote read. “You wouldn’t be an artist unless you wanted to share an experience, a thought.”
Styles’ gig last night marked the first of 12 gigs at Wembley, which will see the star break the record for the most shows at the venue in a single tour. Coldplay previously held the record, delivering 10 gigs at the stadium last year as part of their Music Of The Spheres tour.
The London residency follows the Together, Together tour beginning in Amsterdam in May, and will be followed by stops in São Paulo, Mexico City, New York, Melbourne and Sydney. He will be supported by a different artist in each city, joined by Shania Twain in London, who delivered a set of hits and new tracks from her upcoming album, ‘Little Miss Twain’.
As the sounds of Simon And Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ played over the stadium PA, Styles made his way to the stage, kicking off his set with ‘Are You Listening Yet?’, from his latest album, ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally’. Between renditions of ‘Golden’ and ‘Adore You’, he addressed the crowd for the first time, saying: “Our job tonight is to entertain you. Your job is to have as much fun as you possibly can.
“If you want to sing, if you want to dance, please feel free. Please feel free to be whoever it is you’ve always wanted to be tonight. We’ve got each other’s backs.”
Throughout the night, Styles subtly reworked some of the songs on the setlist. He dedicated ‘Taste Back’ “to all the ravers in the house”, as a snippet of Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’ was interpolated into the song, while a brief burst of Talking Heads’ ‘This Must Be The Place’ was introduced to ‘Treat People With Kindness’. During ‘Dance No More’, the pop star’s band played part of the groove from Happy Mondays’ ‘Step On’, while Styles sang a snatch of Gorillaz’s ‘Clint Eastwood’.
There were also nods to Styles’ days in One Direction early in the set. As the musician left the stage after ‘Fine Line’, the string section on stage played a medley featuring clips of the group’s hits ‘Night Changes’ and ‘History’, plus Styles’ own track ‘Falling’. After ‘Keep Driving’, he took the time to reflect on Wembley’s connections to his and the boyband’s journeys.
“Just outside of this building, just next door, is Wembley Arena, and 16 years ago, my sister brought me to London for the very first time for my X Factor audition,” he said. “So driving here today, and any time I come through Wembley, means so much to me, ‘cause right in that building next door, I was put into a band. We were called One Direction.
The Together, Together setlist features a different surprise song each night at the start of the encore. Last night, Styles treated the Wembley audience to ‘Little Freak’, taken from ‘Harry’s House’, for the first time since 2023. After the song, he spoke to the audience for the final time, saying: “I don’t know if you’ve been listening to me for a week, or a month, or a year, or five years, or 10 years, or 16 years, or whatever it is, but you have changed my life over and over again. Thank you so much for being here and allowing us to do these shows. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
“Finally, 16 years ago, my mother signed me up for the X Factor without my knowledge. I wouldn’t be here today if she hadn’t done that. She’s here today – thank you so much. You’ve changed my life, all of you.” Referencing a lyric in ‘Dance No More’, he added: “Remember – respect your mother.”
‘Are You Listening Yet?’
‘Golden’
‘Adore You’
‘Watermelon Sugar’
‘Music From A Sushi Restaurant’
‘Taste Back’
‘Coming Up Roses’
‘Fine Line’
‘Italian Girls’
‘American Girls’
‘Keep Driving’
‘Ready, Steady, Go!’
‘Dance No More’
‘Treat People With Kindness’
‘Pop’
‘Season 2 Weight Loss’
‘Carla’s Song’
‘Aperture’
‘Little Freak’
‘Sign Of The Times’
‘As It Was’
The Together, Together, London residency continues at Wembley Stadium tonight, with further dates on June 17, 19, 20, 23, 26, 27, 29 and July 1, 3, and 4. Visit here for any remaining UK tickets and check out doors and stage times here.
The gigs will see Styles donate £1 from every ticket sold to LIVE’s levy to help protect UK grassroots music venues and support emerging talent, and before Styles’ headline performance, the big screens at the venue encouraged fans to support Music Venues Trust.
The tour is in support of the star’s latest album, ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally’, which was released in March. In a four-star review, NME described it as “an album that you’ll really want to spend a lot of time with, letting all its layers envelope you”. It added: “It’s the most exploratory album of his career so far, trying out new things and steering his ship in new directions.”
Meanwhile, Styles has also curated this year’s Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre. The line-up chosen by the star includes Stephen Fretwell, Nilüfer Yanya, Orlando Weeks, Bar Italia, Dev Hynes, Jon Hopkins, Getdown Services, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, Soulwax and more, as well as an intimate gig from Styles himself.
The festival kicked off earlier this week (June 11) with a performance from Los Angeles’ Warpaint, whose show was their first in nearly two years. During the gig, they shared fan favourites like ‘Love Is To Die, ‘Billie Holiday’ and ‘Disco//Very’, plus a cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’.
