Cher, Mariah Carey, Sinead O'Connor, Oasis and Sade are among the first nominees for the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class, which was revealed Saturday.
Other new names on the Hall's shortlist include Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & the Gang and Lenny Kravitz. Also on the list are Dave Matthews Band, Mary J. Blige, Jane's Addiction, A Tribe Called Quest, and Eric B. & Rakim, each of whom has been nominated at least once before. Already part of the pantheon as a member of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne first gained attention as a solo artist.
“This incredible list of nominees reflects the diverse artists and music that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honors and celebrates,” John Sykes, president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. “In the true spirit of rock and roll, these artists created their own sound that influenced generations and countless others who followed in their footsteps.”
The 15 artists cited are the first nominees since the abrupt departure last year of Rolling Stone editor and Rock Hall co-founder Jann Wenner, who has long had a strong influence on the awards process.
In September, Wenner was expelled from the hall's board of directors a day after an interview was published in The New York Times in which he justified being the subject of his interview collection “The Masters,” all of whom were white and male. There were widespread accusations that it was racist and misogynistic. He said female artists like Joni Mitchell were not “rock philosophers” and black performers like Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye “didn’t express themselves at that level.”
It's also been a little over a year since Jon Landau, the former Rolling Stone critic who became Bruce Springsteen's producer and manager, deliberately and secretly resigned as chairman of Hall's nominating committee.
But this year's selection largely continues the pattern that has maintained the hall over the past decade. That means it includes a mix of big pop stars, Gen X and classic rock icons, and a few hip-hop and R&B performers. . After years of pointed complaints about the lack of women, some of the highest wattage celebrity has come from female performers like Cher and Carey. It also includes a posthumous nomination for O'Connor, the uncompromising Irish singer-songwriter who died last July aged 56.
Not only is this Cher's first nomination, but Sonny & Cher, the duo that first made her a star in the 1960s, have never been nominated before.
For fans of 90s Britpop and sibling drama Fireworks, the Oasis nomination offers the possibility of a reunion for that band's Liam and Noel Gallagher. The two brothers have never been seen in public, although they once released a 14-minute recording of a vicious argument. It's pretty dead.
Inductees will be announced in April, and the 39th annual induction ceremony will be held this fall in Cleveland, home of the Rock Hall Museum. Nominations are determined by votes from more than 1,000 music historians, industry experts and inducted artists. Artists can be nominated 25 years after their first album was released.