The nominees for the 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were just announced, and in the running this year are Def Leppard, Devo, Janet Jackson, John Prine, Kraftwerk, LL Cool J, MC5, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks, the Cure, Todd Rundgren, Rufus & Chaka Kahn and the Zombies.
First time nominees this year include Def Leppard, Nicks, Devo, Roxy Music, Prine and Rundgren, while nine of the 15 artists have been nominated in previous years including Radiohead and Rage Against the Machine, who were both nominated for the first time last year, LL Cool J and Kraftwerk, who’ve both been nominated four times before, and the Zombies, who’ve been in the running on three previous occasions. Interestingly, no newly-eligible artists received nods this year.
A fan vote is now open, with the Top Five acts earning a “fans’ ballot” that will be considered when the HOF’s international body votes. The new class of inductees will be announced in December and the 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will take March 29th at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. Check out the annoucement, and some songs from this year's nominees, to the right.
As for how this year’s nominees feel about their nomination…
- While it has taken 13 years for Def Leppard to get a nod, they aren’t complaining, considering fellow nominees like Todd Rundgren, Roxy Music and Devo have been waiting even longer. "So I don't feel so bad now that we got overlooked when you see people like them, people I was out buying their records when I was 12 years old,” frontman Joe Elliotttells Billboard. “So it's alright. It's kinda cool." He isn’t getting his hopes up though, noting, "We'll wait and see. I'm not gonna hold my breath because I know how this can go …So I'm not taking anything for granted."
- MC5’s Wayne Kramer tells Billboard after not getting in for three years he isn’t exactly holding his breath, although he’d be okay getting in. "It is a level of recognition. It's always nice to be recognized for your work, so I wouldn't complain about it in that way. And I guess it's good for business,” he says, adding, "But it doesn't mean that much to me. It certainly doesn't affect my personal life. We'll just see what happens."
- The Zombies’ Rod Argent admits, “It really feels like such an honor to be nominated for a fourth time in five years,” adding, “But we've had a terrific journey, and the previous three nominations are not something we counted on. We thought it's just brilliant people have seen fit to nominate us."
- First time nominee Stevie Nicks posted her reaction on Twitter, simply writing “wow, what an honor.”