George Michael, Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott land in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on 1st try

Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY

May 4, 2023 at 12:18 AM·4 min read

From ethereal British pop to pummeling rock to romantic soul, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2023 is a study in stylistic variance.

Add in wildly creative hip-hop and stately country and the seven inductees blanket nearly every major musical genre.

George Michael, Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow are the heralded first-time nominees entering the Rock Hall, while Kate Bush, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners also earned entry in the Performer Category.

The performer inductees were culled from a nomination list of 15 artists, which included Cyndi Lauper, Iron Maiden, Warren Zevon and Soundgarden.

Missy Elliott landed in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 2023 class in her first year of eligibility.

Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow get into Rock Hall on first try

To be eligible for a Hall of Fame nomination, an artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. While these nominations were Crow's and Nelson's first, they have been eligible for years, since 2018 and the '80s, respectively. Elliott is the lone act to be inducted on her first year of eligibility.

Elliott has been consistently championed for injecting hip-hop with innovative creativity from her songs (“Work It”) to her videos ("Get Ur Freak On," "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)"). She was the first female rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has four Grammy wins and 22 nominations.

Crow’s “Tuesday Night Music Club,” released in 1993, launched her down a path that would include nine Grammy Awards and more than 50 million albums sold worldwide. "All I Wanna Do," "Soak Up The Sun" and "The First Cut Is The Deepest" are among her hits.

Sheryl Crow - circa 1997 - made it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame her first time being on the ballot.

Nelson, whose storied career was just celebrated with a massive 90th birthday blowout in Los Angeles with performers including Snoop Dogg, Chris Stapleton, The Chicks and Tom Jones, is the second consecutive country superstar to land in the Rock Hall, following a reluctant Dolly Parton in 2022. The 12-time Grammy winner is a pioneer of Outlaw country, with such hits as "Always On My Mind," "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" with Waylon Jennings.

George Michael wins Rock & Roll Hall of Fame fan vote

Michael, whose career zigzagged from the massive success of Wham! in the ‘80s with soul-flecked pop baubles “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” “Freedom” and “Everything She Wants” to his more pensive solo work with “Praying for Time” and “Kissing a Fool,” won the annual fan vote.

He joins other recent fan vote winners including Duran Duran (2022); Tina Turner (2021); Def Leppard (2019) and Bon Jovi (2018).

George Michael will be inducted in the 2023 class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after winning the annual fan vote.

The British singer-songwriter died in 2016 and has been eligible since 2012. At the 2021 ceremony, he was name-checked by the late Taylor Hawkins during the Foo Fighters’ induction speech.

“I’d like to see George Michael in there one day,” Hawkins said, eliciting major cheers from that year’s audience.

All the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Rage Against the Machine with ace guitarist Tom Morello is entering the Rock Hall after its fifth nomination, while Bush, who received a visibility boost last year when her “Running Up That Hill” returned to the charts after a prominent slot on Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” has been nominated three times between 2018 and 2022.

Kate Bush, who enjoyed a career resurgence in 2022 when "Running Up That Hill" was resurrected on Netflix's "Stranger Things," will be inducted into the 2023 class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The Spinners, eternal staples of soul/R&B with hits including “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love” and “I’ll Be Around," finally achieved Rock Hall entry after previous nominations in 2011, 2014 and 2015.

The 2023 Musical Excellence Award will go to Chaka Khan, Al Kooper and Bernie Taupin, longtime Elton John musical partner. The Musical Influence Award will tout DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray, and the Ahmet Ertegun Award will be bestowed upon “Soul Train” legend Don Cornelius.

The 38th annual ceremony will take place Nov. 3 at the Barclays Center in New York. Ticket information will be forthcoming.

Nominee ballots are submitted by an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians and members of the music industry, taking into account each artist’s musical influence, length and depth of career and body of work and superiority in style.