In recent years, the Cleveland, Ohio-based Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has done a better job of inducting influential acts that aren’t “rock,” in the traditional definition of the genre. In 2024, it was A Tribe Called Quest and Cher . In 2023, Missy Elliott . In 2022, Eminem . And so on.
When asked whether the name of the museum should be changed to the Music Hall Of Fame, chairman John Sykes told Vulture , “Rather than throwing the name out, [the Hall is] doing a better job of communicating to people where rock and roll came from and what it’s truly about. Once they hear it that way, they understand.”
He then gave a specific example involving Jay-Z.
“The best story to convey this was when a great friend of mine, Jay-Z, got inducted a few years ago,” Sykes said. “I was so excited. But he told me, ‘Rock is dead. It should be called the Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame.’ And I said, ‘Well, hip-hop is rock and roll.’ He goes, ‘No, it isn’t.’ And I said, ‘We’ve got to do a better job explaining it. Little Richard, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry — these artists were the cornerstones of rock and roll. If you look at the sounds over the years, those artists ended up influencing hip-hop.’ Jay-Z hemmed and hawed, but he showed up to the ceremony. That made me feel like we had done our job to communicate that rock and roll is open to all.”