List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, established in 1983 and located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, is dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential musicians, bands, producers, and others that have in some major way influenced the music industry, particularly in the area of rock and roll. Originally, there were four categories of induction: [|performers], [|non-performers], [|early influences], and [|lifetime achievement]. In 2000, "sidemen" was introduced as a category.
The only category that has seen new inductees every single year is the performers category. Artists become eligible for induction in that category 25 years after the release of their first record. In order to be inducted, an artist must be nominated by a committee that selects a number of candidates, the highest being 16 for the 2020 class. Ballots are then sent to more than 1,000 "rock experts" who evaluate the candidates and vote on who should be inducted. The performers that receive the highest number of votes are inducted. This number varies; for example, seven were inducted in 2019. Starting in 2012, fans could vote on a fan ballot with an equal weight to the other ballots., new inductees will be honored at an annual ceremony held alternately in New York and at the Hall of Fame in Cleveland; prior to that, the ceremonies rotated between Cleveland, New York, and Los Angeles.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has garnered criticism for allegedly allowing the nomination process to be controlled by a few individuals, nominating too many artists in too many genres that are not entirely rock, ignoring entire rock genres, and using technicalities to induct groups who may not have been among the top vote getters. The Sex Pistols, who were inducted in 2006, refused to attend the ceremony; John Lydon writing a note, read out by Jann Wenner, calling the museum a "piss stain".
Inductees
Performers
The performers category is meant for recording artists and bands that have "influence and significance to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll".Note 1. These backing bands were inducted by a separate committee, and not by the ballot voting used for all other performer inductees.
Note 2. This artist was later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after inducting someone else.
Note 3. This artist was already a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when they inducted someone else.
Note 4. Dire Straits were the first artist in the hall's history to not have an official induction speaker. Band member John Illsley did the induction speech himself.
Note 5. John Gustafson was originally included among the list of inducted members for Roxy Music; however, his name was dropped in the final list.
Note 6. In 2012, six additional bands and groups were inducted as performers by a special committee, due to the controversial nature of their band being excluded when their lead singer was inducted. "There was a lot of discussion about this," said Terry Stewart, a member of the nominating committee. "There had always been conversations about why the groups weren't included when the lead singers were inducted. Very honestly, nobody could really answer that question – it was so long ago... We decided we'd sit down as an organization and look at that. This is the result."
Early influences
Artists inducted into the early influences category are those "whose music predated rock and roll but had an impact on the evolution of rock and roll and inspired rock's leading artists". Unlike the performers category, these inductees are selected by a committee.| Year | Name |
| 1986 | |
| 1986 | |
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| 1987 | |
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| 1987 | |
| 1988 | |
| 1988 | Lead Belly |
| 1988 | |
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| 1991 | Howlin' Wolf |
| 1992 | |
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| 2009 | |
| 2012 | |
| 2015 | The "5" Royales |
| 2018 |
A. Inducted members: Bill Kenny, Charlie Fuqua, Deek Watson, Jerry Daniels, and Orville "Hoppy" Jones.
B. Inducted members: Roy Crain Sr., R. H. Harris, Jesse Farley, and E. A. Rundless.
C. Inducted members: Sonny Til, Tommy Gaither, George Nelson, Johnny Reed, and Alexander Sharp.
D. Inducted members: Bob Wills, Tommy Duncan, Leon McAuliffe, Johnny Gimble, Joe "Jody" Holley, Tiny Moore, Herb Remington, Eldon Shamblin, and Al Stricklin.
E. Nominated as a performer.
F. Inducted members: John L. Tanner, Eugene Tanner, James E. Moore, Obadiah H. Carter and Lowman Pauling, Jr
Non-performers (Ahmet Ertegun Award)
The non-performer category honors "songwriters, producers, disc jockeys, record executives, journalists and other industry professionals who have had a major influence on the development of rock and roll". Several of the inductees in this category were in fact prominent performers as well. The inductees in this category are selected by the same committee that chooses the early influences. This category has been criticized for inducting those that have "been coming to the dinner for years and paying for their tickets" and not revealing their full criteria. In 2008, this category was renamed the "Ahmet Ertegun Award".| Year | Name |
| 1986 | |
| 1986 | |
| 1987 | |
| 1987 | |
| 1987 | |
| 1987 | |
| 1988 | |
| 1989 | |
| 1990 | Gerry Goffin and Carole King |
| 1990 | Holland–Dozier–Holland |
| 1991 | |
| 1991 | |
| 1992 | |
| 1992 | |
| 1992 | |
| 1993 | |
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| 2010 | |
| 2010 | |
| 2010 | Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich |
| 2010 | |
| 2010 | |
| 2010 | Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil |
| 2011 | |
| 2011 | |
| 2012 | |
| 2013 | |
| 2013 | |
| 2014 | |
| 2014 | |
| 2016 | |
| 2020 | |
| 2020 |
Award for Musical Excellence
Established in 2000 as "Sidemen", the category "honors those musicians, producers and others who have spent their careers out of the spotlight working with major artists on various parts of their recording and live careers". A separate committee, composed mainly of producers, chooses the inductees. In 2010, the category was renamed to the "Award for Musical Excellence". According to Joel Peresman, the president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, "This award gives us flexibility to dive into some things and recognize some people who might not ordinarily get recognized."| Year | Name | Instrument |
| 2000 | Drums | |
| 2000 | Saxophone | |
| 2000 | Bass guitar | |
| 2000 | Guitar | |
| 2000 | Drums | |
| 2001 | Guitar | |
| 2001 | Piano | |
| 2002 | Guitar | |
| 2003 | Drums | |
| 2003 | Piano | |
| 2003 | Saxophone | |
| 2008 | Little Walter | Harmonica |
| 2009 | Bass guitar | |
| 2009 | Drums | |
| 2009 | Keyboard | |
| 2011 | N/A | |
| 2012 | N/A | |
| 2012 | N/A | |
| 2012 | N/A | |
| 2014 | E Street Band | N/A |
| 2015 | N/A | |
| 2017 | N/A |
G. Inducted members: Garry Tallent, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg, Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, Patti Scialfa, Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Vini Lopez, David Sancious.
Singles
At the 2018 ceremony, a new induction category for singles was announced by Steven Van Zandt. According to Van Zandt, the category is "a recognition of the excellence of the singles that shaped rock 'n' roll, kind of a rock 'n' roll jukebox, records by artists not in the Rock Hall -- which is not to say these artists will never be in the Rock Hall. They just are not in the Rock Hall at the moment." However, The Isley Brothers, whose song "Twist and Shout" was inducted in 2019, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as performers in 1992.| Year | Artist | Song |
| 2018 | Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats | "Rocket 88" |
| 2018 | "Rumble" | |
| 2018 | "The Twist" | |
| 2018 | "Louie Louie" | |
| 2018 | Procol Harum | "A Whiter Shade of Pale" |
| 2018 | Steppenwolf | "Born to Be Wild" |
| 2019 | "Maybe" | |
| 2019 | "Tequila" | |
| 2019 | "Money " | |
| 2019 | "Twist and Shout" | |
| 2019 | "Leader of the Pack" | |
| 2019 | "Gloria" |
Lifetime achievement
The following were inducted for "Lifetime Achievement in the Non-Performer Category".| Year | Name |
| 1986 | |
| 1991 | |
| 2004 | |
| 2005 | |
| 2005 | |
| 2006 | Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss |
Multiple inductees
As of 2019, 23 performers have been inducted twice or more; fourteen have been recognized as a solo artist and with a band and seven have been inducted with two separate bands. Eric Clapton is the only one to be inducted three times: as a solo artist, with Cream and with The Yardbirds. Clyde McPhatter was the first to ever be inducted twice and is one of three artists to be inducted first as a solo artist and then as a member of a band, the other artists being Neil Young and Rod Stewart. Stephen Stills is the only artist to be inducted twice in the same year.Crosby, Stills & Nash, inducted in 1997, is the only band to see all of its inducted members be inducted with other acts: David Crosby with The Byrds in 1991, Stephen Stills with Buffalo Springfield in 1997, and Graham Nash with The Hollies in 2010. The Beatles, inducted in 1988, is the second band to have all of its members be inducted twice, as well as the only band to have each of its members be inducted for their solo careers as their second induction. Ringo Starr is the first inductee to be inducted twice in different categories. He also holds the record for the longest time between first and second inductions, at 27 years. Both of Stills' inductions happened during the 1997 ceremony and Clapton and McPhatter were inducted in back-to-back years.
There are several performers who were inducted with one of the bands they played for, but were not inducted as members of one other bands. For example, Neil Young was inducted with Buffalo Springfield and as a solo artist, but was left out when Crosby, Stills & Nash were inducted.
In 2019, Stevie Nicks became the first woman to be inducted twice, after having been inducted with Fleetwood Mac in 1998.
| Name | First | Year | Second | Year | Third | Year | |
| 1992 | 2009 | — | — | ||||
| 2001 | 2004 | — | — | ||||
| 1992 | Cream | 1993 | 2000 | ||||
| 1991 | Crosby, Stills & Nash | 1997 | — | — | |||
| Genesis | 2010 | 2014 | — | — | |||
| 1988 | 2004 | — | — | ||||
| 1997 | 2001 | — | — | ||||
| 1988 | 1994 | — | — | ||||
| 1991 | 1999 | — | — | ||||
| 1988 | 1999 | — | — | ||||
| 1987 | 1988 | — | — | ||||
| Crosby, Stills & Nash | 1997 | 2010 | — | — | |||
| Fleetwood Mac | 1998 | 2019 | — | — | |||
| 1992 | Led Zeppelin | 1995 | — | — | |||
| 1996 | 2015 | — | — | ||||
| Santana | 1998 | Journey | 2017 | — | — | ||
| Simon & Garfunkel | 1990 | 2001 | — | — | |||
| 1988 | 2015 | — | — | ||||
| 1994 | Faces | 2012 | — | — | |||
| Buffalo Springfield | 1997 | Crosby, Stills & Nash | 1997 | — | — | ||
| 2005 | Little Anthony & The Imperials | 2009 | — | — | |||
| 1989 | Faces | 2012 | — | — | |||
| 1995 | Buffalo Springfield | 1997 | — | — |
Nominated artists
The following artists have been nominated at least once for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but have yet to be selected as an inductee.| Name | Year nominated | Reference |
| 1986, 1987 | ||
| Bad Brains | 2017 | |
| 2008 | ||
| 2020 | ||
| 2018 | ||
| 2002, 2010 | ||
| Chic | 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 | |
| Dave Matthews Band | 2020 | |
| Devo | 2019 | |
| 1997 | ||
| Eric B. & Rakim | 2012 | |
| Eurythmics | 2018 | |
| 2016 | ||
| 2005, 2006, 2011, 2017, 2018 | ||
| Jane's Addiction | 2017 | |
| Judas Priest | 2018, 2020 | |
| 1986, 1987, 1988 | ||
| 1989 | ||
| 2016, 2017 | ||
| Kraftwerk | 2003, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 | |
| LL Cool J | 2010, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2019 | |
| Los Lobos | 2016 | |
| 2013, 2015 | ||
| MC5 | 2003, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 | |
| 1997, 2013, 2014, 2018 | ||
| Motörhead | 2020 | |
| New York Dolls | 2001 | |
| 2002, 2004, 2005 | ||
| 1986, 1987 | ||
| 2019 | ||
| Procol Harum | 2013 | |
| Rage Against the Machine | 2018, 2019 | |
| 2014 | ||
| Rufus | 2012, 2018, 2019, 2020 | |
| 2019, 2020 | ||
| Sir Douglas Quintet | 2006 | |
| 2015, 2016 | ||
| 2012, 2015, 2016 | ||
| Steppenwolf | 2017 | |
| Sting | 2015 | |
| Soundgarden | 2020 | |
| 1998, 2006, 2007, 2017 | ||
| Thin Lizzy | 2020 | |
| 2005 | ||
| War | 2009, 2012, 2015 | |
| 1986, 1987 | ||
| 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2011 | ||
| 2003 | ||
| 2014, 2018 |
H. Band member Nile Rodgers was inducted as an Award for Music Excellence recipient in 2017.
I. Band members Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson were both inducted as solo artists in 1987, and McPhatter was inducted a second time as a member of the Drifters in 1988.
J. In addition to this nomination for his solo career, Ben E. King was inducted as a member of The Drifters in 1988.
K. In addition to this nomination for her recording career, Carole King was inducted as a non-performer in 1990 for her songwriting partnership with Gerry Goffin.
L. In 2020, the band was nominated as "Rufus featuring Chaka Khan".
M. In addition to this nomination for his solo career, Sting was inducted as a member of The Police in 2003.
N. In addition to this nomination for his solo career, Steve Winwood was inducted as a member of Traffic in 2004.