Reclusive (but newly relevant) experimental pop singer Kate Bush, one-on-one rapper Missy Elliott and 90-year-old country stalwart Willie Nelson are among this year’s cross-genre inductees of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The organization behind the museum and annual ceremony announced the lineup on Wednesday, highlighting how the new class “reflected the diverse artists and sounds that define rock & roll.”
Rounding out the seven acts voted for by more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry professionals are pop singer George Michael, who died in 2016; the 1970s soul group The Spinners, who had been nominated three times before; the platinum-selling 1990s pop-rock singer Sheryl Crow; and the politically rambunctious rap rock band Rage Against the Machine, who crossed the threshold after the fifth round of voting.
The Rock Hall ceremony will take place on Friday, November 3 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Building on a pattern that has taken shape in recent years – after continued criticism of the Rock Hall for its lack of inclusion, especially among race and gender lines – none of the musicians included this time around fit neatly into some rock’s narrowest constraints. is. But as the genre and institution continue to evolve, those behind the scenes have become increasingly welcome in honoring rappers, pop singers, and country artists like Dolly Parton, who tried to take herself out of consideration last year but was voted in anyway.
In a statement accompanying the induction announcement on Wednesday, John Sykes, the president of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said, “We are honored that November’s induction ceremony in New York coincides with two milestones in music culture; the 90th birthday of Willie Nelson and the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop.”
Nelson – who celebrated his birthday this weekend with a concert featuring Neil Young, Miranda Lambert and Snoop Dogg – had been eligible for Rock Hall since 1987, 25 years after the release of his first commercial recording and six years before he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Like Michael, best known for hits like “Faith” and “Freedom! ’90,” this was Nelson’s first time on the ballot.
Bush, who hasn’t released an album in over a decade, has been nominated three times before. But she may have gotten a boost thanks to the renewed interest in her music since last year, when a placement on the Netflix show “Stranger Things” brought her 1985 single “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” back to pop radio and to a new peak of No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Voters passed over more traditional rock bands such as Soundgarden, the White Stripes, Iron Maiden and Joy Division on the final ballot, as well as singer-songwriters Warren Zevon and Cyndi Lauper. The rap group A Tribe Called Quest also did not make the cut.
But beyond those inducted as performers, this fall’s ceremony will also honor hip-hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc and guitarist Link Wray (awarded for “musical influence”); singer Chaka Khan, composer and producer Al Kooper and songwriter Bernie Taupin (for “musical excellence”); and “Soul Train” creator, producer and host Don Cornelius (who receives the Ahmet Ertegun Award for Executives).