Whitney Houston and Notorious BIG among the Nominees for 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Among the 2020 nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are departed artists the Notorious B.I.G. and Whitney Houston.

Each year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts into its fabled halls artists that have contributed significantly to the development of contemporary music, and who have left a mark on their generation.

Among the nominees for the 2020 Induction are two beloved and prematurely deceased legends: rapper The Notorious B.I.G and the mythical Whitney Houston.

Just like in the Oscars, the nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is an honor in itself.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO BE NOMINATED

The Rock & Roll Hall off fame accepts nominations of artists whose first single or album was released in 1994, or earlier.

Breaking the tradition of recent years, a slew of first-timers are on the nominee's list: Dave Matthews Band, the Doobie Brothers, Motörhead, Benatar, Soundgarden, T. Rex, Thin Lizzy, and, of course, the Notorious B.I.G., and Whitney Houston.

WHO VOTES FOR THE NOMINEES

The R&RHF has a voting body consisting of more than 1,000 artists, historians, journalists, and members of the music industry. They will select the inductee for 2020 from the list of nominees.

FANS CAN VOTE TOO

But it won't just be the select few who elect the inductees. We too can add our vote to the ballot and support our idols. Fans can vote through the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame site, rockhall.com, or vote in person at an interactive kiosk at the museum, in Cleveland Ohio.

REMEMBERING B.I.G. AND WHITNEY HOUSTON

B.I.G., who reinvented East Coast hip hop in the 90s had an enormous impact on the development of rap in his short life. He died at 24, gunned down in Los Angeles in 1997, and his murder was never solved. B.I.G is revered by the current greats of rap and hip hop as their inspiration and the greatest of all time.

Houston, who passed away in 2010, is one of the best-selling music artists of all time with 200 million records sold worldwide. She is also the female artist to have received the most awards in history, according to Guinness World Records. Her first two studio albums, "Whitney Houston" and "Whitney" released in 1985 and 1987, catapulted her to instant superstardom at the age of 22. Sadly she was to pass away at 42. The causes of her death were declared to be accidental drowning caused by the use of cocaine and heart disease.

We will be casting our vote, making our voice heard in support of Houston and B.I.G. who gave so generously of their music and their talent. They deserve to be up there among the greatest.

AND THE NOMINEES ARE...

Just like in the Oscars, the nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is an honor in itself.

The nominees this year are an impressive cross-section of recent music history, and the choice for the voters will be hard indeed.

The fans and the industry voters will have to select the 5 most worthy candidates for the 2020 Class of Inductees from among Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, MC5, Motörhead, Nine Inch Nails, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren, Soundgarden, T. Rex, and Thin Lizzy.

The 5 Inductees will be announced in January 2020 and inducted at a ceremony on May 2, 20202 at Cleveland’s Public Hall.