Monday, August 17, 2026

Rock Hall Nominations: Neil Diamond, Maybe; No to Elton’s Pleas for Leon Russell

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations are in.

Sir Elton John was totally snubbed in his quest to get Leon Russell into the Rock Hall. After they win some Grammys in February, Elton and Leon should schedule a show in New York the same day as the Rock Hall show. It will sell out in minutes.

A handful of names haven’t been on the list before: Neil Diamond, Bon Jovi, Donovan, Alice Cooper, and Dr. John are all new.

From ballots gone by: Tom Waits, Beastie Boys, Chic, J. Geils Band, Darlene Love, Lauro Nyro, Donna Summer, LL Cool J, Joe Tex and Chuck Willis.

Who really deserves it from these choices: Neil Diamond, Chuck Willis, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro, Joe Tex, Donovan, Alice Cooper. Bon Jovi would make it a great night and a contemporary touch. They’re a great bar band, and survivors.

Not rock, and it’s getting ridiculous already: Donna Summer. LL Cool J, Beastie Boys.

‘Still missing: KISS, Chicago. the Moody Blues, Mary Wells, Billy Preston, etc.

PS As we know, Joel Peresman is paid just under $400,000 a year to organize this list for the Rock Hall Foundation. Also on the group’s 2009 federal tax filing: $25,000 spent on music scholarship, nothing listed for indigent or needy musicians, and between $10 mil-$13 mil in assets. Good job!

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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