Beck, Duran Duran, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie and Eminem are among seven first-time nominees on the list of 17 performers and acts proposed for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Also appearing on the ballot for the first time — and making New York City proud — are Carly Simon and A Tribe Called Quest.
The New York area is well represented in the 2022 class of nominees announced Wednesday.
Singer Pat Benatar, born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, punk act the New York Dolls, which formed in Manhattan, and Dionne Warwick, from Orange, N.J., all made the cut.
Progressive ‘80s bands Devo and Eurythmics are also being considered for induction, along with late Nigerian multi-instrumentalist Fela Kuti and English singer Kate Bush. Hard rockers MC5, Rage Against the Machine and Judas Priest round out the rundown of nominees. The inductees, which usually include roughly a third of those nominated, will be named in May.
“The feeling was pure gratitude when I heard this morning that we are nominees for the rock n roll hall of fame,” Duran Duran drummer Roger Taylor said in a statement on the band’s website. “A big thank you to not only the Rock Hall for making us part of the ballot , but also to all the DD fans that have made so much noise. The 12 year old drummer in me just screamed very, very loudly!
It’s hard to imagine at least one Big Apple contender doesn’t wind up in Cleveland.
A Tribe Called Quest formed in St. Albans, Queens, in 1985 before taking the music world by storm with its jazzy 1990 hip-hop classic “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.”
It was met with critical acclaim and earned Source magazine’s first-ever “five-mic” rating. Their followup album, 1991′s “The Low End Theory,” earned the same marks. Original band members included producer Q-Tip, DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad and rappers Jarobi White and Phife Dog, who died in 2016 due to complications from diabetes.
Simon hails from the Bronx and already has two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe to her credit. Her 2004 hit “You’re So Vain” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.
Not to be outdone, Warwick has three songs in the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2019 was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The “That’s What Friends are For” singer recently found favor with a new audience by posting witty comments on Twitter, often directed at other recording artists.
This is Eminem’s first year of eligibility. The Hall requires that candidates released their first album at least 25 years before they qualify for the shortlist. The “Slim Shady” rapper’s first album, “Infinite,” dropped in November 1996.
While Parton’s nomination will surely cause Rock Hall critics to again question what’s defined as rock and roll, the “9 to 5″ singer is no stranger when it comes to finding herself at the crossroads of controversy and big honors.
The 10-time Grammy winner, who’s been nominated more than 50 times, said in February 2021 that the Trump administration had twice offered her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which she twice declined.
The first time, she said she couldn’t go to Washington, D.C., because she had to stay home and care for her ailing husband. The second time, Parton said she didn’t want to travel on account of the pandemic. The 76-year-old star also told NBC’s “Today” that President Biden’s White House reached out to her regarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but she worries if she accepts it now, it’ll appear that she’s “doing politics.”
A press release from the Hall of Fame reads, “Nominee ballots are sent to an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians, and members of the music industry. Factors such as an artist’s musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation, and superiority in style and technique are taken into consideration.”
There is also an online vote that allows the public to cast a “Fans Ballot” that’s tallied along with the others. Last year’s inductees included New Yorkers Jay-Z, LL Cool J and Carole King.