All the votes are in and the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Class of 2020 has been decided. This year's inductees will be Nine Inch Nails, The Doobie Brothers, Depeche Mode, The Notorious B.I.G., T. Rex, and Whitney Houston. The induction ceremony will take place on May 2 at Cleveland's Public Hall.
The Class of 2020 is almost nothing like what the fan votes suggested. Fan voting closed on January 10 with Dave Matthews Band in first place with 1,005,657 votes. Then Pat Bentar with 882,207, The Doobie Brothers with 784,729, Soundgarden with 722,931, and Judas Priest with 675,434. Thin Lizzy was in eighth, Motorhead in ninth, and Nine Inch Nails in eleventh.
Nine Inch Nails vocalist and mastermind Trent Reznor used to be against the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but changed his mind in 2019 after attending in 2018.
“I saw somebody write something online or comment on Twitter like, ‘What could be less rock and roll than the fuckin’ Hall Of Fame.’ And that is authentically how I feel about it. I’ll say this: It’s nice to be appreciated. It’s nicer when it feels like that’s coming from a place that you care about. Like, a Grammy doesn’t mean a fuckin’ thing. It means a few assholes in a room that are trying to make a TV show have good ratings deciding, “Let’s give it to this guy.” It doesn’t feel like it has any meaning behind it.
The Oscar was completely unexpected. When you see what goes on behind the scenes there and the different guilds and how many people are involved and how seriously they take it, I’m still pretty blown away by that. I’m not saying there isn’t politics and bullshit involved too but it feels like it’s coming from a much more significant place and from the community that’s honoring you than a couple dudes trying to get ratings for a TV show like the Grammys.
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, who knows what that is. I don’t give a shit. It’s irritating every year that suddenly my inbox lights up with, “Oh man, sorry about …” I don’t give a fuck! [Laughs] You know what I mean? I don’t … the worst would be if we did [get inducted] and then what? We’d have to fuckin’ show up and jam? I can’t even imagine what that would be.
I’m not saying this as sour grapes. I honestly couldn’t give less of a shit. I’m not gonna sleep any better. Included or not. With that being said, it’s always nice to feel you’ve been appreciated to some degree but it’s not on my list of things I have to achieve before I die.”
So I guess there's always next year for the above acts who didn't make it. Especially considering how influential they are!
