Whoahhhhh, they’re all the way there.
Bon Jovi is finally being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The New Jersey rockers will take their place with music elites in April at the induction ceremony in Cleveland, alongside the Cars, Dire Straits, the Moody Blues and Nina Simone. Rock-and-roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe will also receive a special Award for Early Influence.
Bon Jovi’s omission has puzzled rock fans for years. The band has sold hundreds of millions of records, had four No. 1 hits and their anthemic songwriting has been aped by many subsequent pop-rock outfits.
They’ve been eligible for induction since 2009, but the band has only ever been on the nominee docket once before, in 2011. Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi has previously put this down to a “falling out” with Rock Hall bigwigs, and a subsequent personal vendetta.
“There’s other guys on that thing that have made it their personal mission to f–k with me,” he told Howard Stern in 2016. “And that’s okay. I get it. I’ve sold more records than their artists.”
This time, it’s the people who have spoken. Bon Jovi came out clear winners in this year’s fan vote, which is added to the hundreds of votes registered by music industry professionals. The group clocked up more than a million votes, well ahead of the second-place Moody Blues.
Now, the question is whether the band will reunite with estranged guitarist and songwriter Richie Sambora for the induction. Sambora reportedly battled alcoholism in recent years, and left the group abruptly during its 2013 tour.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is again choosing to leave out some big names such as Depeche Mode, Kate Bush, Rage Against the Machine and, most notably, Radiohead, who were nominated for the first time.
The Brits appeared to be shoo-ins, but they didn’t help their case by shrugging at the prospect of being inducted. When asked about the possibility by Rolling Stone this year, rhythm guitarist Ed O’Brien said he didn’t “understand it,” while lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood simply stated “I don’t care.” Proving it, the band booked a South American tour in April, meaning they couldn’t attend even if they were inducted.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has long been criticized for its failure to recognize women (Steve Miller took issue with this shortcoming during his own induction in 2016). This year, two out of the six inductees are female – that’s an entire one-third of the acts, y’all! It might not seem especially progressive, but for the overwhelmingly old and male Rock Hall voters, this must feel like the suffragette movement all over again.