Kate Bush, Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott lead 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and the Spinners will join the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year at its 38th annual induction ceremony, organizers announced Wednesday. “He did well in the voting,” Sykes said of Zevon, whose songs about the lovers and losers of Los Angeles led Joel to say he “exemplified the soul of L.A. — if there is one.” Added Sykes: “I imagine he’s gonna get in eventually, because there was great momentum for him this year and a lot of excitement in the committee.” Chaka Khan, the dexterous funk and soul singer who began her career as the lead singer of Rufus, won’t be inducted as a performer but will receive the hall’s Musical Excellence Award, which is decided by a committee of insiders. The hall says the award is given to “artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact on music.” Producer and session musician Al Kooper, who played the indelible organ part on Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” will also receive the Musical Excellence Award, as will Elton John’s longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin. The Musical Influence Award — which the hall says honors “artists whose music and performance style have directly influenced, inspired and evolved rock & roll and music impacting youth culture” — will be given to the pioneering garage-rock guitarist Link Wray and DJ Kool Herc, who 50 years ago spun records at the Bronx block party widely acknowledged as the birthplace of hip-hop. Asked whether the hall has considered renaming the award in light of sexual assault allegations recently made against Ertegun, Sykes said, “It hasn’t come up in conversation.” For years, the Rock Hall’s induction ceremony has been taped and later shown in edited form on HBO — including in 2022, when the inductees included Dolly Parton, Eminem, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon and the husband-wife duo of Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.