By Steve Newton
Last night those dimwits down at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did it again. They forgot to induct–let alone nominate–two of the most incredible musicians of all time: Johnny Winter and Rory Gallagher.
Do the bozos who do the voting have a grudge against blues-based rockers for some reason? How the hell did non-rockers like Luther Vandross and Sade get the nod instead of those two guitar legends, who between them have been eligible for induction for over 60 years.
Sixty freakin’ years!
Other than Vandross and Sade, the chosen “winners” in the performer category include Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Phil Collins, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis, and Wu-Tang Clan.
Now, I’ve got nothing against Billy Idol getting into the Rock Hall; he’s a real rocker who’s made a name for himself in the music-history books. And Phil Collins–while not so much of a rocker–cannot be denied as a singer, songwriter, drummer, and producer. That’s apart from his amazing work with Genesis in the ’70s.
But the act most deserving of induction this year is probably Iron Maiden, who’ve been rocking like crazy since 1980 or so. They are so worthy that back in 2015 I inducted them–along wiht Johnny and Rory–into the inaugural class of Newt’s Rock Hall.
For the uninitiated, Newt’s Rock Hall is the one created by me 11 years ago to pay homage to the amazing bands and musicians that, for whatever crazy reason, have long been excluded from the “official” Rock and Roll of Fame.
Since the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame–the one located in Cleveland–inducted nine acts yesterday, today Newt’s Rock Hall–the one located near Vancouver–is inducting nine of its own.
So by the power vested in me, I hereby declare that the following acts be inducted into Newt’s Rock Hall, Class of 2026: Brownsville Station, the Cult, Foghat, Golden Earring, Grand Funk Railroad, Hawkwind, James Gang, Kansas, and Living Colour.
And since the rules of Newt’s Rock Hall explicitly state that there can be no crossover between artists in the two hallowed institutions, one more act–the Outlaws–will be retroactively added to the NRH class of 2015 to replace Iron Maiden, which, as mentioned, the slow-witted RRHOF finally got around to inducting last night.
Here’s the complete list of Newt’s Rock Hall inductees so far. (Can you believe that none of these are in the “official” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yet?):
Class of 2026: Brownsville Station, the Cult, Foghat, Golden Earring, Grand Funk Railroad, Hawkwind, James Gang, Kansas, and Living Colour.
Class of 2025: Mick Ronson, Ian Hunter, Slade, Canned Heat, Procol Harum, the B-52s, and Alice in Chains.
Class of 2024: Scorpions, NRBQ, Midnight Oil, the Shadows, the Black Crowes, Ronnie James Dio, Danny Gatton, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Class of 2023: the Guess Who, the Replacements, the Edgar Winter Group, the Stray Cats, INXS (replacing Soundgarden, finally inducted into the RRHOF in 2025), and Montrose (replacing Bad Company, finally inducted into the RRHOF in 2025).
(Please note: due to health concerns my Rock Hall was shuttered during the pandemic, so there were no Classes of 2021 and 2022.
Class of 2020: Rainbow, BTO, Steve Earle, Mahogany Rush, Little Feat, Boston (replacing Judas Priest, finally inducted into the RRHOF in 2022), and Badfinger (replacing Todd Rundgren, finally inducted into the RRHOF in 2021).
Class of 2019: Mountain, the Cramps, Roy Buchanan, Nazareth, the Georgia Satellites, the New York Dolls, and the Tragically Hip (yes, I’m Canadian).
Class of 2018: Free, Humble Pie, the J. Geils Band, J.J.Cale (replacing the MC5, finally inducted in 2024), Angel City (replacing T. Rex, finally inducted into the RRHOF in 2020), and Jeff Healey (replacing Motörhead, finally inducted into the RRHOF 2020).
Class of 2017: Albert Collins, Ronnie Montrose, Rick Derringer, Gary Moore, Jethro Tull, and NRBQ (replacing Warren Zevon, finally inducted into the RRHOF in 2025.
Class of 2016: Blue Oyster Cult, Mott the Hoople, UFO, Ten Years After, and Robin Trower.
Class of 2015: Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winter, the Outlaws (replacing Iron Maiden, finally inducted into the RRHOF in 2026), Dick Dale (replacing Link Wray, finally inducted into the RRHOF in 2023), and Thin Lizzy (replacing Deep Purple, finally inducted into the RRHOF in 2016).
Subscribe to my Patreon page to hear the full audio of my one-on-one interviews with current and former Newt’s Rock Hall inductees, including J.J. Cale, Gary Moore, Dick Dale, Roy Buchanan, Steve Earle, Robin Trower, Ronnie James Dio, Danny Gatton, Albert Collins, Jeff Healey, Ronnie Montrose, Chris Cornell, Warren Zevon, Mick Ronson, Ian Hunter, and members of Deep Purple (Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Steve Morse), Iron Maiden (Bruce Dickinson, Dave Murray, and Steve Harris), Judas Priest (Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton), Blue Oyster Cult (Buck Dharma), Jethro Tull (Ian Anderson, Martin Barre), Mountain (Leslie West), the New York Dolls (David Johansen), Boston (Brad Delp), Angel City (Doc Neeson), the Black Crowes (Chris and Rich Robinson), the Guess Who (Randy Bachman), Nazareth (Dan McCafferty), ELP (Greg Lake), the Cramps (Poison Ivy), Scorpions (Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine), Alice in Chains (Jerry Cantrell), Living Colour (Vernon Reid), Hawkwind (Dave Brock), the Cult (Billy Duffy), Golden Earring (Barry Hay), Grand Funk Railroad (Mark Farner), NRBQ (Terry Adams, Joey Stampinato), the Georgia Satellites (Rick Richards), Little Feat (Bill Payne), and the Tragically Hip (Gord Downie, Rob Baker).
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