After being postponed in May due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame’s 35th annual induction honored Nine Inch Nails, The Doobie Brothers, Depeche Mode.
The iconic soul-stirring Whitney Houston and the legendary Brooklyn-born rapper the Notorious B.I.G. were posthumously inducted during the night as well.
Like so many other ceremonies or award shows held this year, the HOF celebrated the inducted Class of 2020 with a pre-recorded 128-minute special that aired on HBO and SiriusXM radio on November 7.
The show featured special guests such as Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Bruce Springsteen but not as many performances as usually expected.
Many wondered why it took so long for Whitney Houston to have made the Hall of Fame.
The Newark songbird was one of the biggest-selling solo female artists of all time and still holds the record for the most triple-crown hits by a female artist when she topped three Billboard charts: Hot 100, R&B, and Adult Contemporary chart, with four singles―”Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know,” “All the Man That I Need,” and “I Will Always Love You.”
However, many are grateful for Biggie’s inclusion.
Before his untimely death in 1997, Big Poppa was already set (after only two albums) to be one of the most influential rappers of all time.
The induction lists him in the ranks of other Hip-Hop acts such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (2007), Run-D.M.C. (2009), Beastie Boys (2012), Public Enemy (2013), and N.W.A (2016) who are members of the Hall of Fame.
Because life is really poetry, Biggie joins his one-time friend 2Pac, who was inducted in 2017, as the only solo acts from the culture included in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.