The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located in Cleveland, Ohio. The museum archives the history of the most influential artists, producers, and engineers in the music industry. Every year, a handful of artists are inducted into the Hall of Fame at an annual induction ceremony that’s usually held in New York City. The first Hall of Fame induction took place on January 23, 1986; the first group of artists inducted included James Brown, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

As of this writing, groups and artists are eligible to be nominated for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first record. In addition, nominees should have demonstrable influence and significance within rock and roll history. Unfortunately, fans have no input concerning who is nominated or elected to the hall.

Even though fans may not have any input into the process, we still do have opinions as to who should be considered for induction into the hall. As such, I will share some artists and bands who I feel deserve to be nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Donna Summer is one of the leading ladies of the disco era. However, she managed to have her career move beyond the disco years; this is something that many of her disco contemporaries cannot claim. Donna was nominated for potential induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for 2008, but she didn’t get enough votes; the inductees that year were The Dave Clark Five, Leonard Cohen, Madonna, John Mellencamp, and The Ventures.

Depeche Mode released their first album, Speak & Spell, in 1981, which means that they are more than qualified for a nomination simply from the 25 years requirement. In addition to that, Depeche Mode has had quite an influence on other synthpop artists over the years, both mainstream and underground acts.

The Cure is another act who keeps getting slighted when it comes to a nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Again, they fit both the 25 years requirement and have the influence and significance to be considered for a nomination.

Another surprising artist to not be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is Cher. Her career goes all the way back into the 1960s with her Sonny & Cher days, and she’s managed to continue on as a solo artist for several decades. In addition to her music, she has had influence on fashion and has had an acting career. You have to give props to someone who can cover her own song (“I Got You Babe”) with a couple of cartoon characters (Beavis and Butt-Head), and is obviously having a blast doing it.

Those are just four off of the top of my head. I’m sure that if I spent some more time thinking on this, I could probably come up with a few more.