Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails among Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Whitney Houston and Trent Reznor
(Image credit: Scott Gries/ImageDirect, ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, and more are set to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year — and Trent Reznor is "pretty freaked out" about it.

The artists who make up the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2020 were announced Wednesday after the list of nominees was unveiled in December. Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, and T. Rex will all be inducted in May.

Among those who were nominated but didn't make the cut are Pat Benatar and Dave Matthews Band, although the latter earned the most fan votes.

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Nine Inch Nails' induction was particularly notable, as the band had been nominated before but finally made the cut this year. Frontman Trent Reznor famously said in 2018 he didn't "give a f—k" about being snubbed and that "the worst would be if we did [get inducted] and then what?" We'd have to f—in' show up and jam? I can't even imagine what that would be."

Reznor on Wednesday told Rolling Stone he's "honored" and "pretty freaked out" that Nine Inch Nails actually is getting inducted this time. Still, he admitted he thinks the concept of the hall of fame is "in some ways" a bit "absurd," questioning why Kraftwerk and Todd Rundgren haven't gotten in.

"I don't think I would be me had those guys not existed," Reznor said. "That's where I think of it with a grain of salt."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.