Kate Bush and George Michael inducted to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Kate Bush and George Michael are among the artists who will be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at this year’s ceremony, it has been announced.
The stars will be joined on the roll of honour by country legend Willie Nelson and singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow.
Artists are eligible to enter the hall 25 years after their first single, and rap innovator Missy Eliott makes the cut in her first year of eligibility.
Bush had been nominated three times before – in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
While she has not released new music since 2011, she has seen a resurgence in popularity thanks to the use of Running Up That Hill in hit drama Stranger Things.
The song went viral on TikTok after the Netflix show premiered last year, ultimately going on to top the charts in the UK, 38 years after it was first released.
If the star travels to New York to accept her induction, it would mark her first public appearance since 2014. Most musicians who enter the Rock Hall attend and perform at the ceremony, although some have declined.
Courtney Love weighs in
Bush’s Hall of Fame nomination prompted some controversy, after one of the voters admitted they were not acquainted with her songs. Bush’s career in the US was never as mainstream as the UK.
Speaking anonymously to Vulture magazine about the 2023 nominees, the voter said: “I’ve got to admit that I’m not too familiar with her music, so I don’t know if I would vote for her. I want to make sure I know the catalogue.”
Their comment sparked an angry response from fellow singer Courtney Love, who tweeted: “Bro! The rest of us have been LIVING KATE BUSH since 1977!”
“Too much power in the hands of IDIOTS,” she added.
In a later column for the Guardian, Love argued that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was established in 1983, was guilty of marginalising female artists.
The musician noted that only nine of the 31 people on the nominations committee are women, and claimed that 90% of the voters are male.
Of the 13 artists being inducted this year, four are women – with soul legend Chaka Khan receiving the musical excellence award, which recognises artists “whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact on music”.
Nominees who didn’t make the cut this year included Cyndi Lauper, the White Stripes, Joy Division/New Order and A Tribe Called Quest.
George Michael won a fan vote, which was counted alongside official ballots in deciding this year’s inductees. The former Wham! frontman picked up 1.04 million votes, putting him just ahead of Lauper, who received 928,000 votes and Warren Zevon, on 634,000.
Michael’s induction comes on the 40th anniversary of Wham’s debut album, Fantastic. The milestone is also being marked by a Netflix documentary and a new greatest hits collection.
Missy Elliott is considered one of the most important rappers of all time, who changed the landscape of hip-hop with her eccentric beats and innovative rhymes.
Her hits include Supa Dupa Fly, Get Ur Freak On and Lose Control – and she has produced and written songs for others including Aaliyah, Destiny’s Child and Ciara.
She was back in the UK charts last month with a guest verse on the song Fly Girl by British girl group Flo. The track itself is inspired by, and samples, Elliott’s 2002 track Work It.
Sheryl Crow started out as a backing singer for Michael Jackson, before breaking out as a solo artist with the classic album Tuesday Night Music Club, a record that grew out of late-night jam sessions and brought blues and country back into mainstream pop.
Other inductees this year include LA firebrands Rage Against The Machine and R&B group The Spinners (known as the Detroit Spinners in the UK) whose hits include Could It Be I’m Falling In Love and The Rubberband Man – which became a hit again in 2018 after being featured in the Marvel film Avengers: Infinity War.
Sir Elton John, who was inducted in 1994, will be joined in the Hall of Fame by his lyricist Bernie Tapuin; while DJ Kool Herc will be honoured on the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
The musician, whose real name is Clive Campbell, is considered the originator of the genre, thanks to a back-to-school party he threw in New York in 1973.
There, he pioneered the technique of playing two copies of the same song at once, alternating between turntables to extend the instrumental portions of funk and soul records, which became the foundation stone of hip-hop.
And Willie Nelson will be recognised in his 90th birthday year for a stellar career that spans seven decades.
The country legend started out as a songwriter in the 1960s, penning hits like Patsy Cline’s Crazy and Ray Price’s Night Life. He later became a leading voice of the outlaw country movement, achieving commercial success with the albums Red Headed Stranger and Stardust.
Kate Bush and George Michael inducted to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony will be held at the Barclays Center in New York in November.
