The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has revealed its class of 2022: Eminem, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Carly Simon, Lionel Richie, and Pat Benatar will all be inducted during a ceremony held in Los Angeles on November 5th.
Additionally, Judas Priest and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis will each be honored with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Musical Excellence Award, while Harry Belafonte and Elizabeth Cotten are each receiving the Early Influence Award. Jimmy Iovine and Sugarhill Records founder Sylvia Robinson are this year’s recipients of the Ahmet Ertegun Award, which honors non-performing industry professionals.
Parton is being inducted despite having previously asked to be removed from the ballot. “Even though I am extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated… I don’t feel that I have earned that right,” the country music legend wrote in a statement in March. “I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out.”
However, Parton later changed her mind, saying in an interview late last month that she would “accept gracefully” a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “It was always my belief that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was for people in rock music,” Parton stated. “I have found out lately it’s not necessarily that. But if they can’t go there to be recognized, where can they go? And so I felt like I was taking away from someone that maybe deserved it certainly more than me since I never considered myself a rock artist. But obviously, there’s more to it than that.”
A committee of 1,200 artists, historians, and music industry members, as well as a fan vote, determined this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class. In order to be eligible, a nominee’s first recording must have been released at least 25 years ago. Among this year’s class, Eminem is the only artist to be inducted in their first year of eligibility.
Among this year’s finalists who will have to wait another year for possible enshrinement: Rage Against the Machine, A Tribe Called Quest, Beck, DEVO, Kate Bush, Fela Kuti, MC5, New York Dolls, and Dionne Warwick.
The 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on November 5th. It will be simulcast live on SiriusXM, with a television broadcast on HBO and HBO Max airing at a later date.
Last year’s class included Foo Fighters, JAY-Z, The Go-Go’s, Tina Turner, Carole King, and Todd Rundgren.
