The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is located in Cleveland, Ohio and was founded in 1983 by Ahmet Ertegun the founder and chairman of Atlantic Records. Each year The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominates a handful of artists and then widdles down that list to induct only a few of them, let’s take a look at the initial list of nominees for the 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Pat Benatar
Born as Patricia Mae Andrzejewski on January 10, 1953 in Brooklyn, NY, Pat Benatar has had a long music career and has won 4 Grammys in that time as well as having 15 billboard top 40 hits and multiple albums going platinum. With hits like love is a battlefield, Hit me with your best shot and Invincible it’s easy to see why she is nominated and deserves the spot.
Buy Pat Benatar’s Greatest Hits here https://amzn.to/2Mm7e0P
Dave Matthews Band
Formed in 1991 in Charlottesville , Virginia, the Dave Matthews Band has gained legendary status since. The original founding members were Dave Matthews on guitar and vocals, Stefan Lessard on Bass, Carter Beauford on Drums and Back up vocals and Leroi Moore on Saxophone. The Dave Matthews Band has been certified platinum 6 times now and have sold over 100 million concert tickets.
Buy the album Crash by Dave Matthews Band here https://amzn.to/2MMM3DZ
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode is an English rock band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980 and currently consists of three members, Dave Gahan on vocals, Martin Gore on Keyboard and co-lead vocals and Andy Fletcher on Keyboard as well. Depeche Mode has had 17 top 10 albums on the UK charts and have sold over 100 million records worldwide.
Buy The Best of Depeche Mode Vol. 1 here https://amzn.to/31jibVc
The Doobie Brothers
Active for nearly five decades now The Doobie Brothers are legends and everyone has heard of them or heard one of their great classic songs such as China Grove, the band has had a good amount of changes to the lineup through the years but still consists of two of the founding members, Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons. The Doobie brothers has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and were already inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.
Buy the Very Best of The Doobie Brothers here https://amzn.to/2nMGltg
Whitney Houston
Born in 1963 in Newark, New Jersey Whitney Houston is one of the best vocalist to have graced us with her voice, she met a tragic end in 2012 but left a lasting legacy behind. She has sold over 200 million records worldwide. leaving us with classics like I will always love you and How will I Know it’s easy to see why Whitney Houston is on this list.
Buy Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits here https://amzn.to/2VMgFJN
Judas Priest
An English heavy metal band formed in 1969 Judas Priest has had a long career and is still active to this day. They have had many different changes to the lineup and the list is just too much to put down here but the current lineup consists of Rob Halford, Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton, Richie Faulkner and Scott Travis. They won a Grammy in 2010 for Best Metal Performance.
Get The Essential Judas Priest here https://amzn.to/2IWz1CZ
Kraftwerk
I’m honestly not very familiar with this band , they are a German band that was formed in 1970 and are considered pioneers in the electronic music genre, they won a German Lifetime Achievement Award and are still active to this day, although with different members.
Get their latest album here https://amzn.to/2OS2Lo8
MC5
Formed in 1964 in Lincoln Park, Michigan MC5 had a very promising early career and are considered innovators of the Punk Rock movement and although their career was over by 1972 they left a last impression still felt in music to this day with their anti-establishment views and lyrics. MC5 consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred Smith, bassist Michael Davis and Drummer Dennis Thompson.
Buy their music on vinyl here https://amzn.to/2qhMJJX
Motorhead
An English rock band formed in 1975 Motorhead was in my opinion just about one man , Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, It was his gritty voice that made this band so great, I mean who doesn’t love the song Ace of Spades and doesn’t sing along everytime it comes on? Lemmy passed away in 2015 as a result of complications from Prostate Cancer but he left his mark on the music industry forever.
Get the Motorhead Box Set here https://amzn.to/2VMBi8G
Nine Inch Nails
Formed in 1988 in Cleveland, Ohio the home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame , Nine Inch Nails was fronted by singer Trent Reznor who was always the only permanent member of the group up until 2016 when Atticus Ross joined as guitarist. They released their first album in 1989 titled Pretty Hate Machine and would enjoy a ton of success through the 90’s with hits like Closer and Hurt. They are still active today, although they are not the giants they once were in the industry.
Buy Pretty Hate Machine here https://amzn.to/2MKblCN
The Notorious B.I.G.
Born Christopher Wallace The Notorious B.I.G. would take the Hip-Hop industry by storm in the early 90’s and would continue that success right up to the point of his tragic death when he was gunned down in 1997 at the age of 24. Also known as Biggie Smalls or just Biggie there have always been rumors and conspiracy theories revolving around his death and the death of Tupac Shakur and the fact the two might be related.
Get his greatest hits here https://amzn.to/2OZhpu1
Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
Rufus was a Funk band formed in 1970 and due to the popularity of the lead singer Chaka Khan would end up being know as Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. With 4 consecutive number 1 R&B albums and 10 top 40 Pop hits they certainly left their mark in the 1970’s. They also went by the name Smoke at one point.
Get The Best of Chaka Khan Vol. 1 here https://amzn.to/31nDtRk
Todd Rundgren
Born in 1948 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Todd Rundgren was a Singer-Songwriter and Producer and member of the band Utopia. He is known for his unorthodox music and flamboyant stage outfits and is considered a pioneer in the Power Pop genre. He is still active to this day.
Get The Very Best of Todd Rundgren here https://amzn.to/2BfSHNL
Soundgarden
Fronted by legendary rock vocalist Chris Cornell Soundgarden was formed in 1984 in Seattle, Washington and was a huge part of the Grunge scene that exploded in the early 90’s. In my personal opinion Chris Cornell hands down has the best Rock voice of all time and it was a terrible tragedy when the world lost that in 2017 when Chris Cornell took his own life.They have sold over 25 million records worldwide.
Get their album Bad Motorfinger here https://amzn.to/2VMVzLr
T.Rex
An English rock band formed in 1967 who specialized in Psychedelic Folk early in their career and Electronic music later on in their career. Fronted by Singer-guitarist Marc Bolan the band eventually became pioneers of the Glam Rock movement. Marc Bolan would pass away in 1977 as a result of a car accident but the band would leave their mark on the music industry.
Get behind the scenes with this documentary https://amzn.to/2BhyLtP
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy is a hard rock band formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969 that have released a total of 12 studio albums and have left their legacy behind with classics everyone knows such as Whiskey in a jar and The Boys Are Back in Town.They are not currently active in the true sense but do get together for reunion concerts here and there.
Get their greatest hits here https://amzn.to/2IWYWKD
The Listerzine 
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