Laura Nyro was first eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, but it took until 2010 for her to be nominated. After missing the cut in 2010 and 2011, she was inducted into the class of 2012.

Nyro is an artist who impressed critics and influenced other performers but didn’t have much of a commercial footprint. Her biggest hits were songs she wrote for others, including the 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night, and Barbra Streisand (who recorded today’s SOTD, among other Nyro tunes).

But as a songwriter and singer, she was one of the most innovative talents of the late 60s and early 70s. Her songs are complex and creative, with shifting time signatures and melodies that take unexpected detours. She influenced the work of contemporaries like Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Elton John, as well as future generations of artists, including Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, and Jenny Lewis.

Nyro recorded her first album at just 19, and was only 20 when she released Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, considered her masterpiece. She rejected the trappings of celebrity and announced her retirement just a few years later.

She returned sporadically, releasing four more albums over the next two decades, but turned down invitations to perform on TV. She performed live occasionally, usually to support other women.

Nyro died of ovarian cancer in 1996 at just 49 years old.