Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson and more named 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees

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Missy Elliott, one of 14 artists announced as nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Feb. 1, 2023. / AFP via Getty Images

Wednesday morning brought the announcement of the 2023 nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Among the first-timers in this year's class of potential inductees are Sheryl Crow, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Warren Zevon, Missy Elliott and The White Stripes, the last two receiving their nominations in the first year of eligibility.

To be eligible, artists or bands have to have released their first commercial recording by 1997, which slightly alters the institution's rule about the artist's first release coming out 25 years prior. Instead, the Rock Hall nominating committee has started meeting the same year the inductees are honored, so 2023 is something of a between-year, which is why both Missy Elliott's Supa Dupa Fly (1997) and The White Stripes' first single (1998) mark them as eligible for inclusion.

Like Dolly Parton last year, the Rock Hall continues to expand its definition of rock music with the likes of country artist Willie Nelson, hip-hop artists A Tribe Called Quest and Missy Elliott, plus pop artists Cyndi Lauper and Kate Bush, whose "Running Up That Hill" became a viral, chart-topping sensation since its Stranger Things placement.

And in a bid to correct overdue recognition, piano man Billy Joel wrote a letter to the Hall's nominating committee to consider Warren Zevon, who was first eligible in 1994, and who died in 2003. "I just wanted to put in my two cents of supporting Warren Zevon to be included," Joel tells The Times. "If anyone deserved to be, he did. He was a real original, and I don't know if that's appreciated enough."

The inductees will be announced in May, with the induction ceremony taking place later this fall.

Complete list of 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees (asterisks indicate those receiving their first nomination):

• Willie Nelson*
• Kate Bush
• Missy Elliott*
• George Michael*
• Sheryl Crow*
• A Tribe Called Quest
• Iron Maiden
• Joy Division/New Order*
• Cyndi Lauper*
• Rage Against the Machine
• Soundgarden
• The Spinners
• The White Stripes*
• Warren Zevon*

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