Solid gold? '80s headliners Pat Benatar, Whitney Houston get 'best shots' at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
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The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2020 nominees this week, and voting is now under way.
Sixteen artists were chosen as possible inductees, including a variety of rock, pop and hip-hop and metal performers whose careers collectively span decades.
To qualify, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years ago. In 2019, the hall inducted The Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music and The Zombies.
Nine of the new batch of artists are first-time nominees. Others have been nominated multiple times. German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk have been nominated five times before without being picked, the most times of anyone in the current group.
A voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry insiders vote on the nominees to induct each yeah, according to the hall of fame. Fans can also vote for their picks, and the top five fan favorites will also be tallied along with the other ballots.
The voting process can consider many factors like influence, career length, innovation and style. But when it comes to the music business, money and sales can also be a big factor in an artist’s success. Here’s the list of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees for 2020, plus some sales figures from the RIAA and info on their hit songs from Billboard:
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- Four top 10 hits
- 17 songs charted on the top 100
- Gold albums: three
- Platinum albums: seven (two multi-platinum)
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 12.5 million
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- 16 top 10 hits
- 30 songs charted on the top 100
- Gold albums: three
- Platinum albums: 14 (seven multi-platinum)
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 34.5 million
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode (Credit: Carl Studna via the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- One top 10 hit
- 17 songs charted on the top 100
- Gold albums: five
- Platinum albums: six (one multi-platinum)
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 10.5 million
The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- Five top 10 hits
- 27 songs charted on the top 100
- Gold albums: four
- Platinum albums: seven
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 22 million
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- 23 top 10 hits
- 40 songs charted on the top 100
- Gold albums: one
- Platinum albums: nine
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 58.5 million
Judas Priest
Judas Priest (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- One song charted on the top 100
- Gold albums: seven
- Platinum albums: five (one multi-platinum)
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 9.5 million
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- Two songs charted on the top 100
MC5
MC5 (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- One song charted on the top 100
Motorhead
Motorhead (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- Nine songs charted on the top 100
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- Eight songs charted on the top 100
- Gold albums: two
- Platinum albums: three (three multi-platinum)
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 10.5 million
The Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G. (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- Five top 10 hits
- 16 songs charted on the top 100
- Platinum albums: five (three multi-platinum)
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 21 million
Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
Rufus featuring Chakah Khan (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- Chaka Chan had 22 top 10 hits, including four with Rufus
- 58 songs charted on the top 100, including 10 with Rufus
- Gold albums: two
- Platinum albums: one
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 2 million
Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- One top 10 hit
- Eight songs charted on the top 100
- Gold albums: one
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 500,000+
Soundgarden
Soundgarden (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- One song charted on the top 100
- Platinum albums: four (two multi-platinum)
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 9 million
T. Rex
T. Rex (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- One top 10 hit
- Three songs charted on the top 100
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy (Credit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- Two songs charted on the top 100
- Gold albums: one
- Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 500,000+