I don’t think innovation is that important. At least not when it comes to who has the wake and the cultural impact to go in the hall. I’ll use the case of the Rolling Stones. The Stones have never really innovated anything. They started as a blues cover band, started writing their own songs, never really strayed far from the blues, and when they did stray it was following the whims of that moment’s popular taste. And yet they’re the Rolling freaking Stone. The basis of rock and roll, and very deservedly in the HOF.
While Madonna is a pop act I don’t think pop is not rock and roll. Rock is a HUGE tent that is always expanding. I think one of the things that makes rock great is that Simon and Garfunkel, Frank Zappa, and Metallica are all rock artists. Folk rock, experimental rock, and hard rock to be sure. But rock. Pop is rock. I won’t count Madonna as any less rock than the Beatles or Paul Anka.
You also have to keep in mind that Madonna was really one of the first people to understand MTV. That’s a big part of how she became the mold of the pop diva that still dominates today (the last vestige of rock that can actually sell platinum records).
Again to me it always boils down to the same thing, and I apply this to sports halls of fame too:
Can you tell the story without Madonna?
And you can’t. And therefore she is deserves to be in the Hall. She defined a subsection of rock that is still going on 40+ years later. Her wake is huge. And is continuing. While other subsections of rock have faded into niche markets pop divas still keep that basic look and feel of Madonna and still go platinum and fill stadiums.
OK, you keep bringing up “wake.”
>> I don’t think innovation is that important. <<
What do you interpret “wake” to mean? If Kate copies Janet, and Janet merely copies Wendy, how is Kate in Janet’s wake, and not Wendy’s?
>> I won’t count Madonna as any less rock than the Beatles or Paul Anka. <<
“Pop” is simply whatever is popular. If your definition of Rock includes all of Pop, you basically have no definition of Rock whatsoever. It’s not a genre of music at all. Which is pretty much what you’d have to assert to include both Paul Anka and Madonna.
>> Can you tell the story without Madonna? <<
WHAT story? The story of Rock’n’Roll, the story of popular music in general, or the story of Celebrity Worship by perverts? I can perfectly well tell the story of Rock’n’Roll with no mention of Madonna.
Besides, your premise is invalid: If I want to tell the story of every rock singer, then I suppose I have to mention Madonna. (She certainly AFFECTED Pink.) But by that logic, I also have to enshrine Tipper Gore and Mark David Chapman.
Of course, I’m seeing that this REALLY comes down to the notion that “Take A Bow,” “Music,” “Vogue” and “Ray of Light” are rock music. If so, where IS Paul Anka, anyway? Barbara Streissand? Frank Sinatra? Celine Dion? If mere popularity on the Pop Charts is enough, where are the Monkees? (You wanna talk about a pop cultural wake??? How about pre-fab boy bands?) Where’s Garth Brooks? (There sure as HELL wouldn’t be Taylor Swift with Garth Brooks!) How about Patti Page? Leonard Bernstein? Rogers and Hamerstein?