(Credits: Far Out / Alamy / Press / Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
All awards are arbitrary, and all artists firmly believe that to such an extent that they keep showing up in their droves, with sweat on their brows, to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Established in 1986, a vast swathe of music’s great and good now reside in this lauded hall, unless, of course, they happen to be female. The inaugural year, back in 1986, saw a roster of ten luminaries make it in: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Little Richard.
Since then, a whopping 407 inductees from the performing, promoting, and recording side of rock ‘n’ roll have made their way into this glitzy something or other. While inclusions like the obviously hip-hop-oriented Eminem have raised question marks over whether it is staying true to its name, its scope has continued to expand.
However, it has not always been easy to see what it is honouring. By and large, the most commonality is huge commercial sales. You have to trek a far way down the list of the best-selling artists in history to find a name of an apt genre who has been overlooked since the first schmoozy bash in ‘86.
The best-selling artist to still not in the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame
The first name you come across comes with two notable asterisks: Phil Collins. First and foremost, it may well be a bit of a stretch to classify his solo work as rock. And perhaps that is further indicated by the fact that he has made it in with Genesis anyway. However, with a whopping 102 million certified sales and estimates of around 150m unregistered, he’s certainly a notable enough solo presence to perhaps become another rare double inductee.
But there is one name firmly in the classic rock canon who remains overlooked in every capacity: Meat Loaf. Mr Loaf’s iconic Bat Out of Hell still remains firmly in the best-selling albums of all time list, and beyond that lucrative record, he’s amassed total sales of around 50m, putting him in league with the likes of Foreigner, Chicago, and Def Leppard, all of which have been inducted.
Perhaps the reason for his present dismissal is that records like Bat Out of Hell were largely orchestrated by his musical collaborator, Jim Steinman, and heavily produced by Todd Rundgren, thus maybe diminishing Meat Loaf’s role in the eyes of the judges for now. Or perhaps they’re just making their way down towards a posthumous inclusion for the bellowing meatball.
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