Madonna has been many things in her 26-year career.
The Material Girl has been a pop star, a video star, a movie star, a singer, a songwriter, an author, a dancer, a label exec, a producer and, most recently, a director.
Calling her a rocker, though, is a bit of a stretch.
Yes, there are a handful of borderline rock songs in her catalog, and she did learn the guitar for her “Music” tour. But Madonna is a pop star.
Does that mean Madonna should be excluded from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where she will be inducted Monday? Of course not.
“To me, it’s the same issue as last year with Grandmaster Flash and does hip-hop belong in?” says Jim Henke, vice president of exhibitions and curatorial affairs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. “I think here at the museum and among other inductees, we’ve always defined rock and roll pretty broadly. It’s not just about four guys with guitars or something like that. Madonna certainly had a huge impact on popular music and rock and roll throughout the ’80s and ’90s, and she’s certainly deserving of being honored.”
Perhaps her biggest contribution has been her music videos.
“Madonna takes us into a new era,” says Rick Krim, VH1’s executive vice president for music and talent programming. “As the years go on, the new eligibles from the MTV era will be different from those who came before them. They will be different from the Ventures or the Dave Clark Five. And Madonna emerged as one of the icons of the video era.
“She’s not settling back and relying on what she’s done in the past. She’s always looking ahead.”
SNUB HUB
Debate Madonna’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame credentials all you want, but she will be inducted on Monday. Other deserving artists are not. Leslie Gray Streeter of The Palm Beach Post has listed her 25 most outrageous omissions from the Hall. Below are a few highlights. For the full list, go to redeyechicago.com.
1. Carole King
Eligible since: 1984
Here’s what I don’t get. Every year critics get their Gloria Steinem up about the lack of female artists in the Hall, when they only have to look as far as one of the architects of popular music. How can Madonna be in when the woman who sang and wrote “It’s Too Late” and “So Far Away” isn’t?
4. Ashford and Simpson
Eligible since: 1998
Not only were the husband and wife hitmakers in their own right, but they wrote so many epic songs. “You’re All I Need To Get By”? “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”? “Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand”? “I’m Every Woman”? Classic. And the brains behind them? Genius.
10. Tina Turner
Eligible since: 1998
Already in the Hall for her work with ex-husband Ike Turner, Tina’s solo career has been a marvel. You think rock radio is hostile to women? Try being a black woman. In your 40s. But Tina recast herself in the ’80s as an ageless, timeless force of nature equally at home with ballads and scorching roof raisers.
18. Heart
Eligible since: 2001
Before Ann and Nancy Wilson, no one believed women could rock. I mean, rock hard. I mean, write and wail and kick down doors with their awesomeness. I mean, make guys want to both jam with them and take them home. Ignoring this is a travesty.
24. Jimmy Buffett
Eligible since: 1995
The man isn’t just a musician — he’s a movement. Ask yourself how many artists can command that sort of loyal fan base with people who aren’t selling hemp wallets and falafel in the parking lot. The answer: Not many.
