Football fans have their Super Bowl! Nerds have Comic-Con! And rock fans have the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Ceremony. Every year, the best and the most influential of rock music is voted into the Hall Of Fame. Recently, the list of nominees was announced. The list of possible inductees are (in alphabetical order): Bad Brains, Chaka Khan, Chic, Depeche Mode, Electric Light Orchestra, J. Geils Band, Jane’s Addiction, Janet Jackson, Joan Baez, Joe Tex, Journey, Kraftwerk, MC5, Pearl Jam, Steppenwolf, The Cars, The Zombies, Tupac Shakur, Yes

A few names stand out for me, those being Janet Jackson, and Tupac. Neither of these artists are known for making rock music. Janet Jackson, sister of Michael Jackson, is known for her pop, and Tupac is a rap icon who many consider of the greatest of all time, isn’t who you would think to be a nominee to a rock and roll hall of fame. But I would argue quite the contrary

Over the years, the Hall Of Fame has recognized many non-rock and roll artists. Sex Pistols is undeniably a punk band, and they were inducted.  Johnny Cash is country, but he’s in the Hall Of Fame. Sure, country is a parent genre of rock, but it isn’t rock music nor is Cash a rock artist. He influenced it, but didn’t help create it, or reinvent it.

The push in the Ceremony has been to introduce not just people with a direct link to rock, but indirect as well. Any person who influenced music can be allowed in. The only qualifications is that their first single or album be released 25 years prior to the year they’re allowed in. Tupac is eligible for the first time this year because his first album, “2Pacalypse Now” was released in 1991.

In December, the inductees will be announced. But fans can go to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame website and vote for the artist they want. Top 5 artists will be tallied and looked over by the heads of the Hall Of Fame, and they will decide who to nominate.

My hope? I would like to see Tupac, Bad Brains, Journey, and Janet Jackson voted in. Any of those or a combination of them would be grand.