It has been a long time coming. Janet Jackson is one of the most iconic women in music history, and yet she had been denied induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for over a decade after becoming eligible. The 34th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, March 29, 2019 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. An edited version of the event will air later on HBO.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2019 inductees are Janet Jackson, Radiohead, Stevie Nicks, Def Leppard, the Cure, Roxy Music and the Zombies. LL Cool J, Rufus & Chaka Khan, Kraftwerk, Todd Rundgren, Rage Against the Machine, MC5, John Prine and Devo were all nominated, but failed to make the cut. Artists are eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single.
“Thank you, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Janet says in a statement reacting to the honor. “I am truly honored and I am happy to be in there with my brothers.” Janet’s late brother Michael Jackson was inducted (as a solo act) in 2001, having previously been inducted with his brothers The Jackson Five in 1997. Janet has Grammy nominations in five different genres: Pop, Rock, Dance, Rap and R&B, and four albums arguably considered classics: “Control”, “Rhythm Nation 1814”, ‘janet.”, and “The Velvet Rope.”
Janet Jackson’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction is years overdue. And now we all know why.
Disgraced former CBS chairman Les Moonves derailed the career of the music icon in a fit of pique following the “Nipplegate” controversy at her 2004 Super Bowl performance with the essentially unaffected Justin Timberlake. But now that he’s out, she’s in.
The Huffington Post reported in September that disgraced former CEO and chairman of CBS Les Moonves developed a “fixation” on the singer after the Superbowl, believing both that Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” was an intentional move by her and Timberlake and that Jackson did not sufficiently abase herself in her personal apology to him.
So, he allegedly barred her from performing at the 2004 Grammys; he ordered VH1 and MTV to stop playing her videos; he forbade Viacom-owned radio stations from playing her music. There can be no overstating the level of damage Moonves did to Jackson’s career after 2004, nor the way the music industry treated her as a result of his vindictiveness. Janet Jackson has been enjoying a resurgence this year by way of various award show honors, a return to late night television, a successful tour, anniversaries of her landmark projects, and now finally, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction — since Moonves’ influence has waned in the wake of his exposure as an alleged serial sexual harasser.
While Jackson became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, she wasn’t even nominated until 2016.
