Pat Benatar should be in the R&R HOF - yes or no?

i would say no, but based on lots of nominees, she’s not any worse.

Didn't The Cars just get inducted? My point is, if you let The Cars in, then you have to let Pat Benatar in, don't you?

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Her body of work merits inclusion.

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Meh - she's a lot better choice than many, many, many inductees, but the Rock HOF is an absolute joke, anyway. So, why not?

She should get in off "we belong" alone.

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Heartbreaker
Love is a Battlefield
Hit Me with your Best Shot
We Belong
Shadows of the Night

Who doesn't know these songs?

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That alone should do it.

I say yes

...but not before Stevie Nicks.

When I look at some of the other inductees, I say why not.

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the Rock HOF is an absolute joke, anyway

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Eh, this is somewhat complicated. When it started, I'm not sure a lot of people felt this way. That's largely because every year was slammed with obviously qualified acts.

The problem is that we are running out of those sorts of acts to induct. They're having sort of reach to make sure they have inductees each year because, as with anything else, I'm sure annual inductions represent a revenue stream.

I think it means something to the industry and to a lot of fans. However, the nature of the annual "requirements" for inductions is watering it down over time.

That said, to the original question, Pat Benatar should absolutely be in. This is in no way disrespectful, but if The Cars and Cheap Trick are in, Pat Benatar should be in as I feel she is a more significant and influential act than either of those. My opinion, of course.

Why not? Everyone else is.

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Eh, this is somewhat complicated.

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Not to any sane rock and roll fan, it isn't.

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When it started, I'm not sure a lot of people felt this way.

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Now we're talking about apples and oranges. The inaugural class (1986) was stellar:

Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis - the only name that leaps out - a little - is the Everly Brothers - and honestly, I don't have a problem with them, either.

The very next year, PC kicked in. Now, I don't have heartburn with Aretha, Marvin Gaye, B.B. King, the Coasters or Smokey Robinson, despite none of them really being a traditional rock act. Jackie Wilson and Clyde McPhatter are slight stretches that early, but why not, right? Wilson was a legend and McPhatter was highly influential - I don't think either warranted that second class - just not the gravitas of the other "non rock" black acts of the second class. For the rest of that class, obviously, Bo Diddley, Roy Orbison and Bill Haley make sense. Eddie Cochran and Ricky Nelson? Maybe - eventually - but certainly not Nelson that early. I have no idea what they were thinking - already by 1987.

It gets worse - although 1988 solid (and they got smart with a smaller class) - Beach Boys, Beatles, Drifters, Dylan, The Supremes (again, not a rock act, but difficult to argue with their credentials and influence). But, 1989 had Dion FFS.

By the 1990s - the diversity stretches made less and less sense. Ruth Brown and Etta James for example - great singers, but they don't really have a place in the Rock HOF. On the other side of the spectrum, Gene Pitney and Brenda Lee don't belong in the rock HOF either.

So, maybe it wasn't a joke at the beginning, but became one quickly.