In case you were unaware, there are websites out there on which music fans predict future Rock & Roll Hall of Fame classes. I’m not talking about predicting who may get in next year. These people make guesses ten, fifteen, twenty years down the road.
For instance, Geese’s major label debut came back in 2021, so if you think they will one day gain a hallowed spot in Cleveland, you might mark them down for the class of 2046.
I don’t do that. But it’s fun to speculate from time to time. So we’re going to do it in a smaller, more controlled way today. We are going to look at the eight recent RRHOF honorees and think about whether each artist’s induction sheds light on the chances a related act will get in some day soon.
After a fascinating 2026 class, who’s next in line for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?
I should warn you up front, this is a fool’s errand. The RRHOF follows no understandable guidelines. The voters and the standards appear to change without warning. It’s entirely possible that what seems like a trend today is merely a course correction. The shutout of a particular group in one random year may be a complete outlier.
Then again, starting a rock and roll band is basically a fool’s errand as well. And sometimes it pays off. So let’s see what we can come up with in this moment.
Sometimes, trends seem obvious. Hip hop artists are here to stay. Six hip hop acts were inducted in the 13 years between Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 2007 and Biggie in 2020. Since Biggie, hip hop acts have been honored in the last seven consecutive years.
Other trends may not be trends at all. How do we interpret the fact that six female artists were left out on the doorstep this year while just one – Sade and her band of the same name – were admitted entrance? Is this a sign that the RRHOF is going hyper masculine?
Doubtful.
I’m not interested in those broad trends right now. Today, I’m getting granular. As in …
Phil Collins opens the door for…
Collins was already in for his work with Genesis. Though I am not a fan if his solo career, he was undeniably popular and I suppose that is why he will now be one of about 30 double entries. (Trivia time – there is one triple entry in the RRHOF. Care to guess?)
The double are entries are roughly divided between artists whose second induction is for work with a second band and artists who, like Collins, had solo success. There happens to be a pretty good candidate for admission based on the Collins model, though few people talk about him these days.
Ben E. King is already in as a lead vocalist for the Drifters in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. He followed up his relatively brief time in the group with a very successful solo career which featured a couple of R&B chart toppers and a handful of mainstream hits as well.
Sade opens the door for …
The innovative band Sade released six studio albums, all of which landed in the top ten, and half of which topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Sade Adu was an early architect of neo-soul and helped create popular cross-over genres blending jazz and pop with R&B and soul.
You know who else has done that, perhaps to an even greater extent? Beck, who somehow is not yet in the RRHOF. Like Sade, he is a critical darling who has also had plenty of popular success. Like Sade, he has been lauded as an influence on countless subsequent acts. It’s true, Sade was never dissed by Kanye in front of the international music community. But Ye eventually apologized.
And, even though Sade did appear on SNL twice, Beck has been on too many times to count, and, back in 2006, performed the spectacular “Clap Hands” with marionettes and percussionists playing table settings.
Wu Tang Clan opens the door for …
As previously stated, hip hop no longer needs doors opened. Its presence is firmly established. What Wu Tang might hint at is a more subtle change in attitude.
Up ‘til this point, a rap act needed massive success to get RRHOF love. I’m not saying Wu Tang didn’t have that for a while, but their recognition may suggests a wider net. For traditional rock artists, the Hall is not simply there for whoever sold the most product. Artistry, innovation, influence … they all matter. Hip hop may have finally gotten to that point by 2026.
So whereas the hugely popular Snoop Dogg might still be the next rapper to gain entry, I think Wu Tang’s induction may clear a path for a more critically lauded act like De La Soul to get in over the next few years.
Luther Vandross opens the door for …
Hall voters merely had to come to terms with how expansive they wanted to get. Once they began opening the doors to rock adjacent genres like hip hop and country, Vandross became a lock. It probably took longer than it should have – and it took a huge Kendrick hit – to put the leading soul singer of his era in.
If we are growing more comfortable with those rock adjacent genres, then maybe it is finally time for John Coltrane. Miles Davius has been in for 20 years. Coltrane’s brand of jazz had similar influence on a great many rock and roll performers.
What’s really unfathomable about Coltrane’s exclusion is that he has not been recognized in either the Musical Influence or Musical Excellence categories, which would seem to exist for performers who merit inclusion but perhaps didn’t have enough of a “rock and roll” career to get votes.
I have long wondered if the fact that voters have never honored him in one of those other categories suggests that his fans are holding out to put him in as a performer. Regardless of the strategies involved, he needs to be inducted in some capacity.
Billy Idol opens the door for …
We've taken care of the adjacent honorees. Now onto the rock and rollers.
Though I am tempted to view Idol’s induction as a hint about more punk artists getting recognized, I’m not holding my breath. Bad Brains, Replacements, Black Flag .. those acts don’t even get nominated.
I’m going to look at Idol a bit differently. Iconic frontman who had success in a punk band before going solo. It’s not exactly the same path, but it is similar enough to Ronnie James Dio to give me some hope.
More on metal bands in a moment, but basically, they are under-represented just like punk bands. Dio has the chops, the longevity, the success. If Ozzy is in twice, then Ronnie can be in once.
Iron Maiden opens the door for …
Told you we’d get to metal soon. Listen, I don’t want to belabor this point.
Put Motorhead in the freaking Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you didn’t want to vote for them because you felt Iron Maiden was more deserving, fine. That excuse is now gone. It’s Lemmy time.
Joy Division/New Order opens the door for …
2026 will go down as a year in which the RRHOF voters addressed some past mistakes. Not recognizing Joy Division and New Order was the most egregious. I say that even though I’m not a big fan. Their influence and artistry, with or without Ian Curtis, is undeniable.
I’m not much of a Smiths fan either, but the same applies. Both bands had far more success in the UK than in the States, and that type of imbalance does matter. But the Smiths' run in the UK – 14 number one singles on the UK Indie charts – combined with their impact on alt rock in the USA – should secure them a place. Besides – we all want to see Morrissey and Johnny Marr together don’t we? (That’s a joke – it ain’t happening, and certainly not in Cleveland.)
Oasis opens the door for…
I am so proud of the plucky RRHOF voters. They finally grew up enough to ignore mean things that members of Iron Maiden and Oasis may have said about them in the past and properly voted them into the Hall.
If voters can forgive the Gallagher boys, they can forgive Ian Anderson. I mean, Anderson hasn’t even really said anything bad about the Hall – he has merely pointed out that it is very much tilted to American acts. He has also said if Jethro Tull were ever to finally be inducted, he wouldn’t attend, which never sits well with the powers that be.
Still, out of all its egregious omissions – and each of has out own, from King Crimson to Boston to Little Feat (that one is mine) – I don’t think there is a more obvious error than not having Jethro Tull in the RRHOF.
And here’s a bonus, because the overall theme of 2026 opens the door for …
Vandros. Wu Tang. The only American acts in this year. All the rest were Brits. So is that Ian Anderson opinion changing? If so, a greater acceptance of success in the UK would also help open the door for Jethro Tull.
And for a bunch of other bands. Madness, Status Quo, Blur …. The list goes on. Huge in the UK. Afterthoughts in the USA.
If I’m getting behind one band that fits that general description, it’s Thin Lizzy. In this long-delayed British invasion of the RRHOF, find some room for Phil Lynott and all those iconic dual guitars. That’s rock and roll.
BTW -- the answer to the trivia question posed earlier... Eric Clapton (another Brit) is the only musician to have been inducted into the RRHOF three times.
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