Pat Benatar, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie, Devo, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick and Dolly Parton are among the 17 artists who have been nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
Also on the ballot are Beck, Kate Bush, Eminem, Fela Kuti, Judas Priest, MC5, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine and A Tribe Called Quest.
To be eligible for induction, an artist must have released their first commercial recording 25 years before the year of their nomination.
Benatar, Eurythmics, Warwick and Devo have all been nominated for induction before, while Duran Duran, Richie, Simon and Parton are among the first-time nominees.
Speaking with ABC Audio, Rock Hall executive Jason Hanley notes, “I think it’s a great year for someone like Pat Benatar. Between her and [her husband and guitarist] Neil Giraldo…they wrote some of the great classic songs of the 1980s.”
He adds, that songs like “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” “were such good songs and delivered with this great rock edge, classic kind of clean but distorted ’80s guitar, and Pat’s just amazing voice.”
Hanley also says he’s excited that Duran Duran have been nominated, noting that the British New Wave act combined good looks, catchy tunes and excellent musicianship.
“Yes, they were on the cover of Tiger Beat. And yes, they also wrote and performed really great songs,” he offers. “And I think if you can handle both sides of Duran Duran…then you really have a really good argument to vote for them.”
Hanley also similarly touts Eurythmics for the multifaceted appeal of their music.
Singling out the ’80s synth-pop duo’s signature tune “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)” as an example, Hanley notes, “[T]heir music was so catchy, but it also really made you think and it kind of dug into these darker sides of the human emotion.”
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