The final inductee from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2011 is singer-songwriter Tom Waits. Waits was eligible starting in 1999 and made it in the first year he was nominated.

I have very little familiarity with Waits’ discography, and I can’t say I enjoy listening to the songs I have heard, but I have no issue whatsoever with his inclusion in the Rock Hall. He is an iconic figure and a singular talent, an artist who has crossed and blended genres and influenced a generation of musicians.

Waits started out in the folk scene in the late 60s, inspired by Bob Dylan (and probably encouraged that somebody with an unconventional voice could find a wide audience). He later shifted to a jazz-influenced sound before changing gears again and incorporating R&B and rock into his repertoire.

He also embarked on an acting career, as his friendships with Sylvester Stallone and Francis Ford Coppola led to roles in their movies. He has appeared in more than three dozen films. My first encounter with Waits, before I even knew he was a celebrated musical artist, was in Robert Altman’s 1993 film Short Cuts.

Waits has never had a hit song, not on his own or with any of the many songs he has written for others. That fact feels important to his legacy, somehow.

He put it best when accepting the Hall of Fame honor: “They say that I have no hits and I’m difficult to work with. And they say it like it’s a bad thing!”