Whitney Houston, the Notorious B.I.G. and More to Join Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Whitney Houston, who died in 2012, was one of the 20th century’s most commercially successful artists, influencing generations of pop divas. The Notorious B.I.G., killed in 1997, was widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time, and helped turn hip-hop into a cultural force through his vivid storytelling. Depeche Mode popularized moody synth-pop, while Nine Inch Nails pioneered the dark, angsty sounds of industrial rock. In the 1970s, the Doobie Brothers combined soul, rock and pop to become one of California’s most popular groups. T. Rex, led by the late Marc Bolan, offered crunchy glam-rock.

The previous inductees, the class of 2019, included just one black artist, Janet Jackson, but brought in more acts from the 1980s and 1990s than in the past, including Radiohead, Def Leppard and the Cure.

The Notorious B.I.G., who was eligible for the first time this year, will be the seventh hip-hop inductee, following Tupac Shakur and N.W.A in recent years. In the previous two classes, two women were inducted each year, whereas Ms. Houston is the class of 2020’s sole female honoree.

Four of the 2020 inductees are first-time nominees: The Doobie Brothers, the Notorious B.I.G., T. Rex and Ms. Houston, who has been eligible since 2009.

An international body of more than 1,000 past winners, critics and music executives chose from among this year’s 16 nominees. According to the Rock Hall’s rules, artists are eligible for nomination 25 years after their first commercial recording—so, this year, 1994.

The Rock Hall factors in a “fans’ ballot”—five artists picked through online voting by the public. This year, Dave Matthews Band led the fan vote, after being nominated for the first time—but it didn’t win induction. Among the five fan-vote winners, only the Doobie Brothers did. The past two years, four of the five fan-vote winners were inducted.

First-time nominees Pat Benatar, Soundgarden, Thin Lizzy and Motörhead fell short of votes. Kraftwerk missed for a sixth time; it was MC5’s fifth try and the fourth for Rufus featuring Chaka Khan.

Other nominees who failed to make the cut include Todd Rundgren and Judas Priest (both two-time nominees). Music executives Irving Azoff and Jon Landau will receive a separate Ahmet Ertegun Award, which honors industry professionals.