Fans of 70s stadium rock and five-necked guitars, rejoice! Today is your day. Because the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, that temple to Rolling Stone‘s boomer base, has inducted yet another slew of old white dudes into its ranks. This morning the hall announced that Steve Miller, Cheap Trick, and Deep Purple were all inducted into the Hall. Chicago—who won the fan vote with 37.7 million entries—also made it, as did gangsta rap godfathers N.W.A., who conveniently had a hit biopic to boost their visibility.
Some have speculated that the change in the size of the nominating committee—cut in half from more than forty members—is at least partly responsible for the success of otherwise critically maligned 70s pop-leaning rock acts like Cheap Trick and Deep Purple. Maybe these guys finally lobbied the right committee members. But the real question to ask is, if a Hall of Fame includes self-proclaimed “gangster of love” Steve fucking Miller but not Trent Reznor, it’s exposed itself. You’re telling me this guy is more worthy of honor than super producer and guitar god Nile Rodgers? Have these people even seen them play guitar? Other egregious snubs of nominated artists include Chaka Khan and Janet Jackson, and while there’s a good chance they’ll get in eventually, the whole endeavor is so arbitrary and absurd it’s hard to muster up even a fraction of a fuck to give. But hey, Eric Clapton was inducted three times, so it’s all good.
Even the inductees think it’s a joke. Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover told Billboard earlier this year that “it’s not something we care about, to be honest,” and last year the band’s guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, said he would not attend the ceremony. But we’ll have to see if that sentiment holds up to induction; Hall President and CEO Joel Peresman says the news was “greeted with enthusiasm” by band’s management.
“It’s very interesting that people have certain opinions about it when they’re not inducted,” Peresman told Billboard. “And for the most part they put that past them and realize what an honor it is and really embrace it.”