NEW YORK — Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius and the late George Michael have all been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Kate Bush also finally reaching the top of that hill.
The Cleveland-based institution announced Wednesday the artists and groups entering the hall as the class of 2023, a list that includes The Spinners, Rage Against the Machine, DJ Kool Herc, Link Wray, Al Kooper and Elton John’s longtime co-songwriter Bernie Taupin.
“When you can go from Link Wray, who was one of the early influencers, to Missy Elliott and Kate Bush and The Spinners and Rage Against the Machine and Willie Nelson, you have a very diverse body of work.
What we are always trying to show is that rock ‘n’ roll is a big tent and a lot of people belong,” said Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation according to AP.
Elliott, the first female rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, an MTV Video Vanguard Award recipient and a four-time Grammy Award winner, now becomes the first female hip-hop artist in the rock hall, which called her “a true pathbreaker in a male-dominated genre.”
In response, she tweeted: “I want to say this is HUGE not for just me but all my Sisters in HIPHOP this door is now OPEN to showcase the hard work & what many of us contribute to MUSIC. I have cried all morning because I am GRATEFUL.”
Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction.
Eight out of 14 nominees were on the ballot for the first time, including Crow, Elliott, Michael and Nelson. This is the first year of eligibility for Elliott.
Bush was a nominee last year but didn’t make the final cut then. She got in this year due to a new wave in popularity after the show “Stranger Things” featured her song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God).” The hall hailed her for “using lush soundscapes, radical experimentation, literary themes, sampling, and theatricality to captivate audiences and inspire countless musicians.”
Michael, first as a member of Wham! and then as a solo artist, was cited for “paving the way for a generation of proud LGBTQIA+ artists, from Sam Smith to Lil Nas X to Troye Sivan” and the 90-year-old Nelson was simply described as “an American institution.”
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