Courtney Love calls out Rock and Roll Hall of Fame over lack of women and black artists

Rocker Courtney Love has criticized the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for being sexist and discriminatory. In her opinion piece for The Guardian, Love called out the music organization’s nomination and induction practices, saying that they constitute “sexist gatekeeping.”

Love suggested that the induction system needs an overhaul because only a small percentage of inductees are women. “Barely 8% of its inductees are female. The canon-making doesn’t just reek of sexist gate-keeping, but also purposeful ignorance and hostility,” she wrote.

She also chastised the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for initially inducting all men, arguing that it needs to start recognizing the contributions of female artists and artists of color. Love said, “If so few Black artists, so few women of color, are being inducted, then the voting process needs to be overhauled.”

Love called attention to the fact that only nine of the 31 people on the nominating board are women, which she sees as a manifestation of the Hall of Fame’s misogyny.

In her piece, Love mentioned that this year’s nominations of female artists, such as Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, and Missy Elliott, were an “annual reminder of just how extraordinary a woman must be to make it into the ol’ boys club.” She also highlighted the fact that it took the Rock Hall over 30 years to induct Nina Simone and Carole King and that Linda Ronstadt was inducted alongside Nirvana in 2014.

Love gave credit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as being a “king-making force in the global music industry” and having “a sheen of gravitas and longevity that the Grammys do not have.” However, she still maintained that their “canon-making doesn’t just reek of sexist gatekeeping.”

Love also accused the museum of racism for inducting the Beastie Boys in 2012 “ahead of most of the Black hip-hop artists they learned to rhyme from.”