Favorite Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees, by Year

(This is definitely a list of favorites rather than a list of bests—one artist per year, wholly by personal preference.)

1986: Sam Cooke
1987: Marvin Gaye
1988: The Beach Boys
1989: Stevie Wonder
1990: The Four Tops
1991: Howlin’ Wolf [an “early influence” inductee]
1992: The Isley Brothers
1993: Van Morrison
1994: Elton John
1995: Al Green
1996: David Bowie
1997: The Jackson 5
1998: Fleetwood Mac
1999: Billy Joel
2000: Billie Holiday [an “early influence” inductee]
2001: Queen
2002: Talking Heads
2003: The Police
2004: Prince
2005: The Pretenders
2006: Miles Davis
2007: R.E.M.
2008: Leonard Cohen
2009: Little Anthony and the Imperials
2010: The Hollies
2011: Tom Waits
2012: Guns N’ Roses
2013: Randy Newman
2014: Peter Gabriel
2015: Bill Withers
2016: Cheap Trick
2017: Electric Light Orchestra
2018: The Cars
2019: The Cure *
2020: Depeche Mode
2021: Carole King
2022: Eurythmics
2023: Kate Bush
* Note: This is by far the hardest year for me, since Roxy Music and The Zombies were also inducted in 2019, and they would top the list for me in most other years.

— March 4, 2023