February 2, 2022 by A.S. Van Dorston

First time nominees Eminem, Beck, Duran Duran, Lionel Richie and Carly Simon can wait their turn. Let’s first induct Fela Kuti, Judas Priest, MC5, New York Dolls and Kate Bush, who have all been eligible for 19-27 years.

17 artists have been nominated this year, including seven for the first time (Eminem, Beck, Duran Duran, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, and A Tribe Called Quest). The fan ballot is open, where fans can vote once a day for their top five. The winner of the fan vote counts as just one vote. It’s unclear how many members there are in the nominating committee. I know Dave Grohl was added in 2016. After giving induction speeches for Queen in 2001 and Rush in 2013, being inducted himself with Nirvana in 2014, and performing with Joan Jett and Ringo Starr during the all-star jam, he’s practically the figurehead. But Foo Fighters getting inducted last year just seemed gross. Besides slogging the stadiums and having a few hits, it’s quite a stretch to think they deserved being inducted before the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Ronnie James Dio, Scorpions, Slayer, Melvins, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, MC5, New York Dolls, King Crimson, Free and Thin Lizzy. I half expected him to decline their nomination and pass it on to Thin Lizzy.

So here we are, presented with the class of 2022, another chance to right wrongs. As usual the popular vote gives zero fucks about the deserving legacy of the above mentioned artists. Pat Benatar tops the leaderboard this morning with 7,510 votes, followed by Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, and Carly Simon. I like all those artists, but I hope this year the committee will finally throw a bone to Fela Kuti, who’s importance as the architect (along with his musical director, drummer Tony Allen) of Afrobeat has grown exponentially. And before Benatar and Simon are inducted, Kate Bush needs to be in there. Without her fearless explorations into arty weirdness and progressive pop, we wouldn’t have Björk, St. Vincent, Grimes or dozens of other artists. As I’ve written extensively, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath may be the reluctant godfathers of heavy metal, but Judas Priest were the key pioneers, and to snub them one more time would be ridiculous. MC5 and the New York Dolls were huge influences on punk, which long ago was acknowledged in the HOF, though there’s plenty of bands in that genre who will never make it to nominations. And Thin Lizzy, come on. Very few bands had a more consistent run of more than a half dozen albums in the entire 70+ history of rock & roll (based on that criteria I’d add XTC, Free, Tim Buckley, Can and Toots & the Maytals as deserving artists).

Your vote won’t count for much, but it’s fun to participate. So vote early and often, and hope that the committee has some damn sense. And while I’m glad they finally hosted the induction ceremony in Cleveland last year, it was a bit too polished. We need more moments like Madonna having Iggy Pop perform her songs for her induction. And fingers crossed we’ll see an all-star jam of Kate Bush, Judas Priest and surviving members of the MC5 and New York Dolls performing Fela Kuti’s “Zombie” or “Expensive Shit.”

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