Ten recordings were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame on Wednesday (March 20), following a two-year period in which the Hall was put on hiatus for a reevaluation. As before, this year’s choices are eclectic and wide-ranging, including several that played a key role in creating or popularizing sub-genres – Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (neo-soul), Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” (EDM) and De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising (alternative hip-hop).
Several changes were made during the hiatus period. The number of inducted recordings is down significantly from 25 to 30 in prior years. And while past classes have included repeat inductions by such Hall of Fame mainstays as The Beatles and Ella Fitzgerald, all of this year’s choices are by first-time inductees into the Hall.
Also, the inducted recordings will be greeted with more fanfare than in the past, when each class was merely announced via press release. This class will be saluted at the Grammy Museum’s inaugural Grammy Hall of Fame Gala and concert on May 21 at the NOVO Theater in Los Angeles. Significantly, the event was scheduled more than three months after the Feb. 4 Grammys to give it its own moment.
This year’s induction class consists of six singles and four albums. All four albums were the artists’ debut studio albums (or solo debut, in Hill’s case). The three other debut albums honored were Buena Vista Social Club’s eponymous album, Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction and 3 Feet High and Rising. (Remarkably, Hill has not yet released a follow-up studio album, and Buena Vista Social Club disbanded without doing so.)
The inductees vary widely in terms of their commercial success. The list includes two Diamond-certified albums – Appetite for Destruction (18 million) and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (10 million). But it also includes a single, William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” that peaked at a lowly No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Some of this year’s inducted recordings were showered with Grammy Awards at the time, including Hill’s album of the year winner The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and The Doobie Brothers’ record and song of the year winner “What a Fool Believes.” But many others weren’t even nominated when they were eligible, including Appetite for Destruction and “I Feel Love.”
The Grammy Hall of Fame was created in 1973 to honor recordings that were released prior to the inception of the Grammy Awards in 1958. Eligibility was soon changed to allow any recording released at least 25 years ago. Counting this year’s 10 inductees, it includes 1,152 recordings.
Let’s take a closer look at the 10 recordings being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame this year. The titles are arranged alphabetically by artist.