Source: Kevin Winter / Getty
Missy Elliott is joining several other musical figures in the 38th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. The announcement came Wednesday (May 3) morning that the VA artist and producer, Kate Bush, Willie Nelson and more will be inducted. Read more details and view a gallery of the legendary Hall of Fame inductees inside.
Fans were asked to vote on potential artists to be inducted into the 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Country music legend Nelson got a late 90th birthday present with the announcement today. Nelson, Elliott, Bush, Rage the Machine, Sheryl Crow, George Michael and the Spinners were all voted into the hall.
There are also six more inductees who were specifically selected by a Hall of Fame committee to join the seven performers, who were voted in via general balloting. The additional inductees include singer Chaka Khan, instrumentalist-producer Al Kooper and lyricist Bernie Taupin, all in the “musical excellence” category; pioneering rock guitarist Link Wray and hip-hop originator DJ Kool Herc in the “musical influence” division; and “Soul Train” TV host Don Cornelius as the recipient of the annual Ahmet Ertegun Award.
All 13 honorees will be celebrated in an induction ceremony and concert that will take place Nov. 3 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. A media partner is also expected to be named in the near future, since the hall’s contract with HBO has expired.
We are especially excited for iconic producer and artist Elliott to join these legendary artists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Her influence and Hip Hop and the culture’s influence on the music industry is evident with the last few years of inductees.
“Missy Elliott got in first ballot,” John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, tells Variety. “Just like Eminem got in first ballot last year and Jay-Z the year before. So if there’s a throughline we’re seeing, it shows the power of hip-hop music culture now, as if we didn’t know it already, as far as how quickly these artists are being recognized on the first ballot.”
Nelson and Bush are also newsworthy selects this year as they both have been buzzing throughout the news cycle in the last year. Nelson celebrated his 90th on Saturday (April 29) with a two-night all-star birthday salute at the Hollywood Bowl.
Meanwhile, Bush’s growing popularity came as she received a major synch placement on the Netflix’s popular sci-fi series “Stranger Things,” which resulted in “Running Up That Hill” becoming a resurgent hit.
“She’s been nominated many times, so the nominating committee was very happy that the general ballot voted Kate in this year,” Sykes shared. “Sometimes it takes a major moment like Willie’s 90th birthday or, in the case of Kate Bush, music being played in ‘Stranger Things’ to shine a light on them for a lot of younger people who didn’t know who she was in 1985; they probably weren’t even born yet.”
The full 2023 list of the 38th annual inductees:
Performer Category
- Kate Bush
- Sheryl Crow
- Missy Elliott
- George Michael
- Willie Nelson
- Rage Against the Machine
- The Spinners
Musical Influence Award
- DJ Kool Herc
- Link Wray
Musical Excellence Award
- Chaka Khan
- Al Kooper
- Bernie Taupin
Ahmet Ertegun Award
- Don Cornelius
