Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2024 predictions

Predictions on 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominations!

After witnessing the ceremony honoring 2023 inductees at Barclays Center, it's pretty much clear that moving forward the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will be hosting shows that are more diverse & inclusive plus more contemporary as well. So I'm glad it's always about all types of music, not just one particular genre & instrument. Also expect more rappers, country stars & pop icons in the future. With said, I'll be focusing on who would make the ballot for the Class of 2024. 

As we know, the Hall is concentrating on not only diversity, inclusiveness but also spirit, evolution & pop culture & that means it cannot be just about those classic rock acts who try to make the list every year. We're getting to a point that inductions of those bands are coming to a complete stop since most are in obituaries while the rest are performing at county fairs & small venues not even making a dent on the charts. I mean it's reality after all. Plus those who debuted from 1980 - 1995 have been eligible for some time & are long overdue for the honor. 

The Hall doesn't care how many sales & hits any certain artist have since it only indicates popularity, the objectivity of the RRHOF is to honor those who truly changed the entire course & made the biggest impact in rock & roll history by having influence, innovation & any kind of impact regardless of any genres & instruments. If that only honor the artists based on sales & hits, then we'll be seeing the likes of Garth Brooks, Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion etc making the list in the next few years. 

Due to the eligibility date rule, there's going to be more 80's & 90's taking over the whole process whereas the rest 60's & 70's are gonna have to get backdoored as we've seen the case for some acts during the last few years. Pretty soon the aughts will be involved, come to think of it there's some artists who defined that decade already inducted. So it wouldn't be surprising if those who become eligible in 2023 & 2024 would appear on more ballots in the near future. 

With that out of the way, here's my predictions on who would make the cut for Class of 2024 nominations. I'll break it down by two sections: New & Returning. 

New Nominees 

Bjork: With the induction of Kate Bush, it definitely opened the door for quirky artists & Bjork is one of them considering her discography & performances. Plus she'll be the first Icelandic artist to have a RRHOF nomination. 

Coldplay: In all honestly, putting Coldplay on the ballot for the first time would be interesting given the fact they're among the biggest & most important bands in the last 20+ years making their influence on today's music more relevant. Their possible appearance would make those rockers lose their mind but who cares. 

Daft Punk: Electronic music is well unrepresented in the Hall & it took Kraftwerk 6 nominations only to end up getting inducted through Early Influence. With said, Daft Punk would definitely be the next one on the ballot but might have the same problem like KW.

Kool & The Gang: Quite a few acts from 70's R&B/Soul who were nominated in the past & the likes of The Spinners & Chaka Khan have finally got inducted after many tries. With said, Kool & The Gang has never got any nominations before so maybe give them their 1st shot to see what happens. 

Alanis Morrissette: Now her refusal to appeared at the 2022 ceremony may somewhat hurt her chances but she will be an obvious pick when it comes to more women in the Hall. 

Oasis: Now I know they might be a controversial pick given the fact the Gallagher brothers are jerks & have feuds with each other & everyone else but their music is more relevant than ever, they defined what is britpop in the 90's.

OutKast: Definitely put the duo on the ballot since it's going to be 30 years since their debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was released. Plus Big Boi's appearance at the recent ceremony & Andre 3000 just released his new album would surely help their chances for the honor. 

Diana Ross: With Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner & Carole King being the first 3 women to achieve the double induction status, the next one who would be a sure thing is Diana Ross given her successful solo career & output. Her influence towards younger women of music remains at large. 

Snoop Dogg: Having both Snoop & OutKast on the ballot would be an competitive one since it happened with Eminem, Missy Elliott, LL Cool J & Tribe Called Quest before.

Returning Nominees

Mary J. Blige: It's been a few years since her first nomination & maybe she'll return now the 90's are taking over the election process. If she doesn't return, then Mariah Carey might take her position.

Dave Matthews Band: Now that Dave Matthews performed at the ceremony honoring Willie Nelson, it would help his band scoring another nomination however the experts & historians still won't take them seriously as evident on how they won the fan vote but didn't get inducted. DMB will return on the ballot but it might not be different.

Joy Division/New Order: The innovators & leading figures of post punk & new wave, Joy Division/New Order haven't been nominated for induction into the RRHOF until 2023 even though they're eligible for a very long time. Only their 1st try, maybe 2024 would be their time since it took The Cure & Depeche Mode a few nominations to get inducted & I'll also be 45 years since Division's iconic debut Unknown Pleasures was released. Plus there wouldn't be two aforementioned bands if it weren't for the influence of JD/NO. 

Cyndi Lauper: This year was her 1st nomination, with Pat Benatar being inducted after two nominations I could possibly see Lauper going through the same route. 

Motorhead: Well Iron Maiden have been nominated every two years since it happened with Judas Priest & it certainly most likely they might not be returning in 2024 so I'll go with Motorhead. The metal stalwarts had only been tried for induction once back in 2020 & it's been a few years. I could see their second try but don't expect them to waltz right in given it took Priest 3 tries & Maiden on their second nom. They'll also probably might be Musical Excellence candidate because it happened with Priest plus the classic members are gone so it's gonna happen unfortunately.

John Prine: Prine might take Warren Zevon's spot since he's a trending theme at the Museum due to the event about him not long ago. He'll probably be an side category inductee now that he might not get voted in at all. 

Soundgarden: Now that Rage Against the Machine are FINALLY inducted, chances for Soundgarden with their 3rd nomination might come sooner than later. Not to mention both bands have connections so 2024 would be their time & 3 nominations worked out for others in the past. 

Thin Lizzy: Another returning pick, Thin Lizzy are well known for their dual guitar attack in which inspired countless hard & metal acts including Def Leppard, Alice in Chains & others. It's pretty wild they only been nominated once & with RATM & Link Wray being inducted, expect more POC rock acts including TL to appear on future ballots. Plus it's worth mentioning that Lizzy, Motorhead & Soundgarden had all appeared on first nomination back in 2020, heck maybe they can reunite this year. 

The White Stripes: No one thought The White Stripes will be nominated in 2023 even before the nominees were announced. Either way or not, I don't see them getting honored as soon especially this time but they'll get there eventually. I mean legends/icons as such: Bob Marley, David Bowie, The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Queen, Black Sabbath etc didn't even get inducted on their 1st try (heck they're not FYE either obviously). I'll rather see the duo getting nominated again & subsequently inducted in the next few years over undeserving/unworthy acts from the 70's classic rock era: Styx, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Kansas, Boston, BTO etc. 

Other possible contenders for the list: 

The Chemical Brothers 

Beck 

King Crimson 

Mariah Carey 

Dionne Warwick 

The Commodores 

War

Jane's Addiction 

Black Flag 

Bad Brains 

The Replacements 

Pixies 

Sonic Youth 

Tears for Fears 

Pet Shop Boys 

The B - 52's 

INXS 

The Smiths 

Alice in Chains 

Stone Temple Pilots 

Smashing Pumpkins 

Queens of the Stone Age 

Korn 

Blink - 182 

Weezer 

Liz Phair 

Iron Maiden 

Motley Crue 

Warren Zevon

Jimmy Buffett 

Robert Plant 

Sting 

Phil Collins 

Luther Vandross 

Queen Latifah 

Salt-N-Pepa 

A Tribe Called Quest 

Wu-Tang Clan 

De La Soul 

Lauryn Hill 

TLC 

Destiny's Child 

John Mayer 

Britney Spears 

Christina Aguilera 

Waylon Jennings 

Merle Haggard 

Patsy Cline 

Loretta Lynn 

I would also list artists, songwriters, producers & other professionals who would/might be potential honorees for such side categories: Early/Musical Influence, Musical Excellence & Ahmet Ertugun Award by the next few years. Here it is! 

John Coltrane 

Duke Ellington 

MC5 

New York Dolls 

Big Star 

Sparks 

Big Mama Thornton 

Ella Fitzgerald 

The Clark Sisters 

Frank Sinatra 

Dick Dale 

Paul Rodgers 

Peter Frampton 

Lee "Scratch" Perry 

Devo 

Television 

Ronnie James Dio 

Brian Eno 

John Cale 

Rory Gallagher 

Weird "Al" Yankovic 

John McLaughlin 

Bernard Edwards & Tony Thompson 

Rick Rubin 

Tom Wilson 

Mutt Lange 

These are my predictions, as far as I know it's gonna be a free-for-all for everyone since there's no guarantees & I'll be way more unpredictable but still expect more 80's & 90's on the list by February. Who knows, the next ballot might be more interesting & competitive if some newly eligible acts (who released their debuts in 1998/99) would make any appearances at all. I mean I don't care who's gonna make the list just as long as those who are eligible have meet the Hall's criteria. 

Best wishes to the nominating committee for making ballots.