Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G, Others Make Nominee List for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Late pop superstar, Whitney Houston; Rock group, Dave Matthews Band and murdered hip-hop artist, The Notorious B.I.G. landed among first-time nominees announced on Tuesday for possible induction into the 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

A total of 16 nominees were revealed, spanning genres from pop to rap, electronica and heavy metal.

Others nominated for the first time include: 1980s pop/rock singer Pat Benatar; Irish rock group, Thin Lizzy, and grunge band, Soundgarden, whose lead singer Chris Cornell died in 2017.

Houston, who ranks as one of the most successful female recording stars of all time, died in 2012 after drowning in a hotel bathroom at age 48.

The Notorious B.I.G. on the other hand, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in 1997.

Inductees will be selected based on ballots sent by the Cleveland-based Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to more than 1,000 artists, historians and members of the music industry.

The general public also can weigh in online or at the Rock Hall. The top five vote-getters will be submitted as a single fan ballot among the hundreds of other ballots.

Other first-time nominees for induction in 2020 are: The Doobie Brothers, Motorhead and T-Rex.

Some other old nominees who never made the final cut include: Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, MC5, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, and Todd Rundgren.

Inductees will be announced in January and inducted into the Hall of Fame in May at a ceremony in Cleveland. In previous years, between five and seven acts have typically won a place in the Hall.