Rock and Roll Hall of Fame complete inductees list 2023: Eligibility, criteria and all you need to know

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is here with its annual list of inductees, consisting of seven artists in the Performers Award category, two artists in the Musical Influence Award category, three artists in the Musical Excellence Award category and one artist in the Ahmet Ertegun Award category.

The 13 inductees, which include Willie Nelson and Kate Bush, will be celebrated in an induction ceremony concert to be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on November 3, 2023.

The seven artists who did not make the cut in the general Performers Award category are A Tribe Called Quest, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Soundgarden, the White Stripes and Warren Zevon.

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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame progresses in diversity

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame candidates' sole eligibility requirement is that the artist must have released their first album 25 years before the year of their candidature.

Once eligibile and nominated, candidates are judged based on their overall impact on rock and roll music influences as decided by the voting panel, which consists of 1,000 rock experts, artists, and historians from all across the world. This year, there will also be a public vote.

This year's Hall of Fame inductee list is one of the most diverse in the Hall's long history, in terms of both genre and gender, with only two artists who fall under the traditional rock music sensibility and three female inductees. In an exclusive interview with Variety, John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame elaborated on the gender parity at this year's Hall of Fame:

We should always focus on it; it should always be better. I’m proud of the progress we’re making, having gone from about 15% up through late 2018 to women now being 25% of the inductees.

He continued:

So we’re making great strides. We can always do better, but we’re on the road to recognizing all the artists of all genders and all races that have been really impacted rock ‘n’ roll

Sykes later in the interview elaborated on the genre parity:

"A mission I had coming in was to update the voting body to reflect the artists that are now eligible. And that means looking at voters who are in their 30s and 40s who grew up with these artists that put out records 25 years ago, because it’s just vital..."

He continued:

"In order for this institution to remain relevant, that we have to induct the artists that really reflected the music that was changing America and the world 25 years ago."

The full list of inductees for the 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is given below:

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

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More about the artists inducted at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2023

Catherine Bush CBE, better known by her stage name Kate Bush, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer.She is known for her eclectic, literary musical themes, which was exemplified in her debut studio album, The Kick Inside.

Rage Against the Machine is an alternative metal and rock band who espouse a revolutionary socialist philosophy through their music. The band rose to prominence with their epynomously titled debut studio album, Rage Against the Machine, which they self released in 1992.

Chaka Khan is an American singer of Yoruba descent who rose to prominence with her fifth studio album, I Feel for You, which was released on 1 October 1984. The album peaked at number 9 on the Kiwi album chart.