The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Include Chaka Khan, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, and More

The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees are here. The Hall announced the news of the 2023 class on Wednesday, May 3. This year’s class of honorees includes Willie Nelson, Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, the late George Michael, Rage Against the Machine, and The Spinners. they were all chosen by general balloting. There are six additional inductees who were chosen by special committees. The “musical excellence” category has chosen Chaka Khan, Al Kooper, and Bernie Taupin. The “musical influence” category will induct Link Wray and DJ Kool Herc. And “Soul Train” host Don Cornelius is the recipient of the annual Ahmet Ertegun Award, given to nonperformers in the industry.

Elliot, 51, celebrated her nomination online, noting that she’s the first women in hip-hop to be inducted into the hall. “I have cried all morning because I am GRATEFUL,” she wrote on Twitter.

The induction news is a late birthday gift for Nelson, who turned 90 on April 29. He made his first record all the way back in 1956. Khan, whose work spans funk, R&B, soul and disco, began her career in the 1970s as part of the funk band Rufus. The 70-year-old released her solo debut in 1978. Bush, 64, saw her number of fans grow after her song “Running Up That Hill” was featured in “Stranger Things” last summer.

There has been some drama in recent years about what exactly “rock and roll” means for the hall and who might qualify. When Dolly Parton was nominated in 2022, she at first tried to turn it down, saying she didn’t really consider herself a rock artist. But the country superstar eventually changed her mind and was inducted in 2022.

The actual induction ceremony will be held this November in Brooklyn. Typically, the ceremony has aired on HBO in the days after, but according to Variety that contract has expired and a new media partner has yet to be announced.