It looks like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is trying to attract more dancing queens. According to Time Magazine, Swedish group Abba was inducted yesterday, and some are questioning the decision.
“I didn’t think this would happen,” Abba co-founder Benny Andersson told Rolling Stone back in December, after the 2010 nominees were announced. “We were a pop band, not a rock band.” So what’s the deal? Is the Hall of Fame going in a new direction? Last year’s additions of Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Run-DMC, James Taylor, Michael Jackson and the Bee Gees also showcased a decidedly pop flavor.
Abba has had 10 Top 20 singles in the U.S., and despite the fact that Abba hasn’t performed together since 1982, the hit Broadway show and movie Mamma Mia! have made them one of the best-selling groups in history. But are they rock and roll. The 30 music historians, journalists and industry executives who make up the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s nomination board say yes.
“Our definition of rock ‘n’ roll is very broad,” says Jim Henke, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s vice president of exhibitions. “It’s not just skinny white guys who play guitar.”
Also inducted this year were Genesis (prog rock), Jimmy Cliff (reggae), the Hollies (British Invasion rock) and the Stooges (punk). “This is the perfect class of inductees,” says Henke. “Rock ‘n’ roll has developed into all those subgenres. They’re all related.”
