Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious BIG Among This Year’s Rock Hall of Fame Inductees
Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers and T.Rex also recognized
Thom Geier | January 15, 2020 @ 5:40 AM
Last Updated: January 15, 2020 @ 6:15 AM
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Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G. and T.Rex are the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2020 inductees, the organization announced Wednesday.
In addition, former music critic and Bruce Springsteen manager, Jon Landau, and longtime music executive Irving Azoff will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performing music industry professionals.
Artists who were nominated this year but did not get enough votes include Pat Benatar, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, Dave Matthews Band, MC5, Motorhead, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren, Soundgarden and Thin Lizzy.
Inductees were selected by a group of 1,000-plus artists, including living inductees, historians and members of the music industry.
The 35th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on May 2, 2020 at Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio — the site of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The ceremony will be broadcast live for the first time on HBO on May 2 at 8 p.m. ET.
The ceremony is likely to be heavy on tributes since half of this year’s inductees are deceased. Marc Bolan of the ’70s glam-rock band T.Rex died in a car accident in 1977 at age 29. The Notorious B.I.G., né Christopher Wallace, was shot dead at age 24 in 1997. And in 2012, 48-year-old Houston was found dead in her bathtub the result of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.
The Biggest Earners in Music in 2019, From Taylor Swift to Drake (Photos)
Being a music star has its perks: not only do you have millions of adoring fans and can go to any event or restaurant you like, but you can also make a ton of money while doing it.
That's especially clear on Friday after Forbes released its annual rankings of the highest-earning musicians in the world.
There are plenty of familiar faces on its list, including pop stars, aging rock icons, and a power couple who tied each other in the rankings (you can probably guess who they are).
Let's take a quick look at the biggest earners in music in 2019, courtesy of Forbes' calculations:
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Taylor Swift, who released her latest album, "Lover," in August, made $185 million this year and grabbed the top spot overall. This was the second time in five years that Swift was named Forbes' highest-earning musician.
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Looks like Kanye West's pivot towards religion -- a la Bob Dylan in the late '70s -- didn't hurt business. West brought in $150 million in 2019, according to Forbes. The veteran rapper, as usual, had several projects in the works: a new album, his "Sunday Service" religious gatherings, and his shoe deal with Adidas to name just a few.
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The red-haired Englishman released his fourth studio album this year, which included his chart-topping single, "I Don't Care," which featured Justin Bieber. Sheeran also had a cameo in "Yesterday," The Beatles-inspired film directed by Danny Boyle. He raked in $110 million overall.
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So what if The Eagles haven't put out a new album in more than a decade? They're still able to draw huge crowds, which they did while touring in 2019 -- helping push them to a cool $100 million in earnings.
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Elton John made $84 million, and it's easy to see why: Sir Elton is not only working on his seemingly-never-ending finale tour, "Rocketman," a biopic on his life came out in May and his autobiography "Me," which was released this fall.
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Beyonce had another massive year, earning $81 million in 2019. That tied her with someone she know's pretty well as the sixth highest-paid artist of the year...
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Who else could it be? Jay-Z just turned 50, but he's not slowing down, apparently, matching his wife with an $81 million payday this year.
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Like most years this decade, 2019 went pretty well for Drake. He earned $75 million, Spotify said he was the most-streamed artist of the decade, and his Toronto Raptors won the NBA title.
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Rapper-turned-media-mogul Diddy, who now runs Revolt TV, can afford to get his friends and family nice holiday gifts: he pulled in $70 million, per Forbes, this year.
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"Fade to Black" was more like "Fade to Green" in 2019 for Metallica, with the longtime metal icons earning $68.5 million.
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The “Lover” singer-songwriter just grabbed the top spot on Forbes’ rankings for the second time in five years
Being a music star has its perks: not only do you have millions of adoring fans and can go to any event or restaurant you like, but you can also make a ton of money while doing it.
That's especially clear on Friday after Forbes released its annual rankings of the highest-earning musicians in the world.
There are plenty of familiar faces on its list, including pop stars, aging rock icons, and a power couple who tied each other in the rankings (you can probably guess who they are).
Let's take a quick look at the biggest earners in music in 2019, courtesy of Forbes' calculations:
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