Another artist I’d love to see inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is Fiona Apple. The singer-songwriter has been eligible since 2022 but has not yet received a nomination.

Apple has earned the honor on a few levels. First and foremost is the sheer quality of her music. Each of her universally acclaimed albums has stretched her songwriting into new territory, experimenting with tempo shifts, discordant chords, and creative instrumentation. She has also been a strong influence on a generation of women mining similar emotionally raw territory outside of the mainstream.

Despite her fiercely independent approach and the somewhat avant garde quality of her music, Apple has enjoyed a fair amount of commercial success. Each of her releases has reached the top 15 on Billboard’s albums chart and she had a Top 40 hit with 1997’s ‘Criminal.’

If one thing is holding her back, it’s her limited output. She has released just five albums in almost 30 years. I suspect if she makes it into the Hall, it will be after several more years and another acclaimed album.

I should also note that both Kate Bush and Tori Amos should probably enter the Hall of Fame before Apple. They occupy a similar space in the musical landscape and both predate her. Bush has been eligible since 2004 and has been nominated four times, most recently in 2023. Amos has been eligible since 2017 and has not yet been nominated.

Eventually, all three women should make it.