Solid gold? '80s headliners Pat Benatar, Whitney Houston get 'best shots' at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2020 nominees this week, and voting is now under way.

Sixteen artists were chosen as possible inductees, including a variety of rock, pop and hip-hop and metal performers whose careers collectively span decades.

To qualify, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years ago. In 2019, the hall inducted The Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music and The Zombies.

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Nine of the new batch of artists are first-time nominees. Others have been nominated multiple times. German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk have been nominated five times before without being picked, the most times of anyone in the current group.

A voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry insiders vote on the nominees to induct each yeah, according to the hall of fame. Fans can also vote for their picks, and the top five fan favorites will also be tallied along with the other ballots.

The voting process can consider many factors like influence, career length, innovation and style. But when it comes to the music business, money and sales can also be a big factor in an artist’s success. Here’s the list of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees for 2020, plus some sales figures from the RIAA and info on their hit songs from Billboard:

Pat Benatar

• Four top 10 hits
• 17 songs charted on the top 100
• Gold albums: three
• Platinum albums: seven (two multi-platinum)
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 12.5 million

Dave Matthews Band

• 16 top 10 hits
• 30 songs charted on the top 100
• Gold albums: three
• Platinum albums: 14 (seven multi-platinum)
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 34.5 million

Depeche Mode

• One top 10 hit
• 17 songs charted on the top 100
• Gold albums: five
• Platinum albums: six (one multi-platinum)
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 10.5 million

The Doobie Brothers

• Five top 10 hits
• 27 songs charted on the top 100
• Gold albums: four
• Platinum albums: seven
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 22 million

Whitney Houston

• 23 top 10 hits
• 40 songs charted on the top 100
• Gold albums: one
• Platinum albums: nine
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 58.5 million

Judas Priest

• One song charted on the top 100
• Gold albums: seven
• Platinum albums: five (one multi-platinum)
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 9.5 million

Kraftwerk

• Two songs charted on the top 100

MC5

• One song charted on the top 100

Motorhead

• Nine songs charted on the top 100

Nine Inch Nails

• Eight songs charted on the top 100
• Gold albums: two
• Platinum albums: three (three multi-platinum)
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 10.5 million

The Notorious B.I.G.

• Five top 10 hits
• 16 songs charted on the top 100
• Platinum albums: five (three multi-platinum)
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 21 million

Rufus featuring Chaka Khan

• Chaka Chan had 22 top 10 hits, including four with Rufus
• 58 songs charted on the top 100, including 10 with Rufus
• Gold albums: two
• Platinum albums: one
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 2 million

Todd Rundgren

• One top 10 hit
• Eight songs charted on the top 100
• Gold albums: one
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 500,000+

Soundgarden

• One song charted on the top 100
• Platinum albums: four (two multi-platinum)
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 9 million

T. Rex

• One top 10 hit
• Three songs charted on the top 100

Thin Lizzy

• Two songs charted on the top 100
• Gold albums: one
• Approximate total sales of best-selling albums: 500,000+

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