A Seat at the Table: Women Who Should Be Considered for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Nominating Committee
Last week on Twitter, Rock Hall blogger Alex Voltaire asked members of the Rock Hall watcher community to name 5 women who we believe should serve on the Rock Hall’s nominating committee. I gladly accepted Alex’s proposition and decided to compile my selections in a blog. After doing a lot of research this past week, I quickly realized it was impossible to limit myself to just 5 women. Instead I decided to expand the number to 15. Why 15? I’m a firm advocate of gender equality and out of the 30 members, only 7* are women (Sandy Alouete, Elysa Gardner, Holly George-Warren, Meg Griffin, Amy Linden, Linda Perry and Amanda Petrusich). Only 23% of the committee are women and that’s just unacceptable. There’s dozens of highly qualified women who would make viable, strong committee members if given the opportunity. The women I chose are scholars, journalists, record executives, musicians and even employees at the Rock Hall’s museum.
Full disclosure—I decided not to select Ann Powers and Evelyn McDonnell despite them probably being the two women I’d want to see on the nominating committee the most. Due to her employment at NPR which could create a conflict of interest (since she often writes about the Rock Hall), Powers apparently cannot serve on the committee. And that’s a shame because she’s one of the great music writers of our time. Regarding McDonnell, she’s a fantastic journalist and someone who continuously inspires me to be a better researcher and writer. I even started a change.org petition to try and get McDonnell on the nominating committee last summer. Despite my admiration of McDonnell’s critiques against the Rock Hall in recent years, I’d come across as bias if I selected McDonnell. Plus she recently revealed she believes she’d be better served as an outsider (a critic) of the Hall than on the nominating committee. Although I was initially disappointed, I know what she meant and perhaps she’s right. Either way, I believe both women would be incredible additions to the committee and there’s hope one day they’ll shake the Rock Hall’s patriarchy.
*On Twitter, current nominating committee member Amy Linden noted there are actually 8 women currently serving on the nominating committee. Future Rock Legends only lists 7.
Here’s my selections—
Daphne A. Brooks: She’s a professor of African-American and Theater studies at Yale University and her research concentrates on black performance art throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Although not music is not her sole focus, she has written several essays on musicians such as Nina Simone, David Bowie and Prince. She even authorized the monograph Jeff Buckley’s Grace (2005) for the 33 1/3 book series and even served as a co-editor from 2016-18. Given Brooks’ diverse interests in popular culture, you’d think she’s the type of academic the nominating committee would’ve recruited years ago.
Emily J. Lordi: An Associate Professor of English at Vanderbilt University, Emily J. Lordi’s writings focus on the intersection of literature, popular music, and the African-American experience. She is the author of three books Black Resonance (2013), Donny Hathaway: Live (2016) and the forthcoming The Meaning of Soul (2020). Her writings have been appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, NPR, and Billboard. She has written extensively on the careers and legacies of performers ranging from Aretha Franklin to Beyoncé to Roberta Flack to Nina Simone. She’s an ideal addition to the nominating committee if the Rock Hall wants to further explore important and often-neglected soul performers.
Gina Arnold: Her writings can be quite provocative and polarizing, but Gina Arnold is a gifted writer who has written about rock music for almost four decades. She has contributed essays and articles to several publications including Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly and The Village Voice. She is the author of four books including Punk in the Present Tense (1997) and Liz Phair’s Exile in Guysville (2014) (part of the 33 1/3 series). If you take a look at the back of Arnold’s recent book Half a Million Strong (Iowa University Press, 2018), look at who wrote the first blurb—none other than long-time nominating committee member Anthony DeCurtis. That alone is a strong indication Arnold could be added to the nominating committee someday.
Leah Branstetter: A music historian who obtained her Ph.D. In musicology at the Cleveland-based Case Western Reserve University, Leah Branstetter’s interests mainly center on the intersection of gender and rock and roll. Her writings have been appeared in academic publications such as the Journal of Popular Music and her dissertation on the legacy of female rock performers in the genre’s first decade is available online. She also oversees the website womeninrockproject.org, an essential website for anyone seeking more information on the topic. But perhaps more importantly, Branstetter has worked with the Rock Hall several times over the years. She supervised the multimedia production for the then Annual Music Masters’ (now rebranded as Rock Hall Honors) tribute shows. She also works closely with the Rock Hall’s education wing—creating educational videos and writing the infographics for the supplemental teaching materials. As an emerging scholar in her field in addition to her past associations with the Hall, she’d be an excellent prospective candidate for the nominating committee in the near future.
Jessica Hopper: A veteran rock music journalist, Jessica Hopper’s writings have appeared in The Chicago Tribune, GQ, Spin, and The New York Times magazine. She served as both the senior editor at Pitchfork (2015-16) and the editorial director at MTV News (2016-17). She is also the author of three books including The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Rock Critic (2015), an absolute must-read, and Night Moves (2018). She currently hosts the podcast Lost Notes, which focuses on important yet understated artists and stories in the history of popular music, and serves as a co-editor for the University of Texas’ “American Music Series.” Hopper’s sharp writing and insight on popular music, along with her diverse ventures in multimedia journalism, makes her exclusion from the nominating committee an absolute head scratcher.
Sia Michel: She was the former editor-in-chief at Spin magazine and became the first woman to oversee a major rock publication. She is currently the deputy culture editor at The New York Times. She wrote a widely-read piece on 2020 inductee The Notorious B.I.G. shortly after his tragic death in 1997, so maybe that could serve as a reminder that she’s one of the most trailblazing women in music journalism.
Annie Zaleski: A freelance writer based out of Cleveland, Annie Zaleski’s work has appeared in many publications including Rolling Stone, Vulture, Billboard, and Cleveland.com. She also served as an editor for Alternative Press and appeared as an on-air personality on NPR and SiriusXM. She wrote the liner notes for the 25th anniversary of R.E.M.’s Out of Time and currently writing the forthcoming books Why The B-52’s Matters and Duran Duran’s Rio (as part of the 33 1/3 series). If the nominating committee wants to better explore the music of Generation X (and even millennials), Annie would be an ideal choice.
Karen Herman: If there’s one constant criticism I have about the Rock Hall’s nominating committee, it’s the lack of museum employees present. The Rock Hall’s museum employees work alongside invaluable memorabilia and archival items on a daily basis and serve as the Hall’s ambassadors to the general public. A good starting point would be to have Karen Herman, the Rock Hall’s Vice President of Curatorial Affairs, serve on the committee. Prior to working at the Rock Hall, she was the Vice President of Archives of American Television at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for almost two decades. Her extensive knowledge of 20th century arts and its lasting impact on American culture would make her a welcome addition.
Nwaka Onwusa: Although she was hired by the Rock Hall as their new Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at the start of 2019, Nwaka Onwusa has proven herself as one of the great creators of music exhibits. She previously worked at the Grammy Museum where she oversaw the creation of exhibits focusing on different facets of popular music (everything from Latin Pop to Punk Rock and everything in-between). She has a gift for storytelling and that’s very apparent in her work and she’d be a welcome addition to the committee.
Jennie Thomas: Maybe it’s because I’m an academic librarian myself (who would love to work as an archivist or librarian at the Rock Hall someday), but I couldn’t help putting someone from the Museum’s Library and Archives up for consideration. The best place to start is at the top and that’s Jennie Thomas who is currently the Director of Archives. Since she oversees all aspects of the Hall’s archives, there are very few museum employees as knowledge of rock music and its history than Thomas. What’s even more helpful is that the Hall’s archives includes plenty of materials from non-inducted artists. She has her finger on what’s important to maintain in the museum’s library and archives and I think that matters.
Jody Gerson: When she was selected as the chairman and CEO of Universal Publishing Group in 2015, Jody Gerson became the first woman to oversee a major music publishing company. As a veteran in the music industry for over three decades, Gerson played a major role in the development of several artists’ careers including Alicia Keys, Billie Ellish, Maroon 5, Shawn Mendes, Lady Gaga, Norah Jones and Post Malone. She also secured the publishing rights of legendary musicians (many of whom are Hall of Famers) including Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Paul, Pearl Jam, and R.E.M. And shortly after Prince’s 2016 death, she played an important role for Universal getting the exclusive rights to the late musician’s entire catalog. Her accomplishments are an impressive track record of proven success against all odds and someone who arrange more youthful performers to partake at the induction ceremonies.
Ethiopia Habtemariam: Initially starting as an intern at L.A. Reid’s LaFace Records in her teen years, Ethiopia Habtemariam would eventually work for Universal Music Group and signed artists such as Ludacris, Ne-Yo and Justin Bieber. She would later serve as the Vice President and later president of Motown Records (which is her current role). As one of the very few black female executives in the music industry, a teenage Habtemariam wrote a sentimental letter to pioneering Sylvia Rhône, then the chairman of Elektra Records and current president of Epic Records, who became the first black woman to run a major record company. Rhone served on the nominating committee for nearly a decade from 1997-2006 and I think it’s about time they put another important female executive on the committee. If you read any of the many interviews with Habtemariam, here’s a fierce woman looking towards the future and having a finger on the pulse of what’s gonna be resonate with America’s youth. And that falls in line with Motown Records’ initial mission statement.
Bette Midler: At first glance this might sound like a strange suggestion, but Bette Midler would be a great addition to the Rock Hall’s nominating committee. One of the most popular entertainers of the last half-century, she is also one of the most outspoken public figures on the Rock Hall’s glaring gender problems. On social media, Midler advocated the candidacies of Cher and Tina Turner, two women who should’ve been inducted into the Hall long ago, and someone with a voice that could command the room. She also served as the inductor for Darlene Love and Laura Nyro years ago and currently receives a ballot every year. I don’t think Midler will become a Rock Hall inductee herself, but she could be best served as an ally for more women to get on the ballot.
Carrie Brownstein: With Sleater-Kinney becoming eligible this past year, it will probably take the nominating committee many years to get this pioneering rock trio nominated . In the meantime, I think they should seriously consider lead guitarist Carrie Brownstein to serve a tenure on the committee. A well-respected (and vastly underrated) guitarist amongst her peers and music critics, Brownstein could help get some of the artists that influenced her on the ballot (e.g., Sonic Youth, Pixies, Bikini Kill, PJ Harvey).
Brittany Howard: Let’s see…she performed at the White House, jammed with Paul McCartney and played at Lollapalooza. As a member of Alabama Shakes, Brittany Howard fronts one of the great contemporary rock bands of the last decade. Howard’s music can be best described as a ‘melting pot’ of American music—fusing the blues, folk, Americana, soul, and garage rock to create a unique sound. She also served as the inductor for Sister Rosetta Tharpe in 2018 and performed “That’s All” with nominating committee members Paul Shaffer and Questlove. With Howard’s star on the rise (she just performed with Alicia Keys at the Grammys last Sunday) and appearing at a recent induction ceremony, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to see Howard as a nominator on the committee in the not-so-distant future.
Thoughts? Comments? Leave a comment below or you can reach me at @NDBambach on Twitter.
