Entertainment

2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Soundgarden, Dave Matthews Band among nominees

By Kelcie Willis, Cox Media Group National Content Desk and KIRO 7 News Staff

Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog, killed himself May 17 by hanging in a Detroit hotel room, the city's medical examiner said. He was 52. (AP photo)

By Kelcie Willis, Cox Media Group National Content Desk and KIRO 7 News Staff

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced the nominees for the 2020 class of inductees.

Rolling Stone reported the Cleveland-based Rock Hall named 16 nominees Tuesday, including Seattle band Soundgarden and Seattle resident Dave Matthews and his band, who are first-time nominees along with The Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, the Doobie Brothers, Motörhead, Pat Benatar,  T. Rex and Thin Lizzy.

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Returning nominees include Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Judas Priest and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, The New York Times reported.

The voice of Seattle's Soundgarden, Chris Cornell, died two years ago.  He was found unresponsive in a Detroit hotel room on May 18, 2017, hours after performing a concert with the band.

Cornell was a leading voice of the grunge movement in the 1990s. Besides Soundgarden, he had hits as a solo artist and with bands Temple of the Dog and Audioslave.

Biggie is eligible for the first time this year. He only released two albums before he was shot and killed in 1997, and is only the seventh hip-hop artist to be nominated for the Rock Hall. In 2017, Tupac Shakur became the first solo hip hop artist to be inducted.

"Nothing stays the same in music," incoming Rock Hall chairman John Sykes told Rolling Stone. "Therefore, really, the institution that honors it has to evolve with all the music. Just like hip-hop is very much a part of the Hall of Fame now, everything we do — the board members we have, the events we build on — has to reflect a changing culture without ever disregarding or turning our backs on the ideals and fundamentals of the Rock Hall."

Fans can vote for inductees at kiosks at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame or online at RockHall.com. The top five fan votes will be on the official ballot for the private nominating committee.

More than 1,000 artists, historians, journalists and members of the music industry make up the committee, which will vote on inductees based on "an artist's musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation and superiority in style and technique," the Times reported.

Inductees will be announced in January.

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