Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G. and Nine Inch Nails among nominees for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Sixteen musical artists have the chance to graduate with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2020. Nine of this year's nominees are on the ballot for the first time, and fans can vote on who they want to make it into the hall of fame.
Fans can now vote for their top five favorite artists on the list, which includes Depeche Mode, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, MC5, Nine Inch Nails, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, and Todd Rundgren.
Dave Matthews Band, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Motörhead, The Notorious B.I.G., Pat Benatar, Soundgarden, T. Rex and Thin Lizzy are also on the list as first-time nominees. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has partnered with Google, which will host the voting.
Voting is open through January 10, 2020, when the "fans' ballot" and other ballots will be tallied.
The official inductee ceremony will take place May 2, 2020, at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio. An "induction week" to celebrate the hall of fame newbies will precede the grand ceremony.
A 2020 Inductee exhibit will also be opened at the Rock and Roll Hall of fame ahead of the event.
Last year, seven nominees made it into the class of 2019: Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, Radiohead, The Cure, Def Leppard, Roxy Music and the Zombies.
All of these winners were in the "performers" category. The Hall of Fame also considers artists in other categories including "early influencers" and "the singles," a new category created in 2018 to recognize "the songs which have established a permanence in our history and influenced rock and roll," according to the Hall of Fame.
The nominees are selected by a nominating committee and sent to "1,000 historians, members of the music industry and artists—including every living Rock Hall inductee—and the five performers receiving the most votes become that year's induction class."
Fan voting began in 2012, with the committee tallying up the "top five vote-getters in the public poll." The fan vote is weighted the same as the rest of the ballots.