Music legend upset: ‘My lawyer got into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before me’

Mariah Carey is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but her lawyer is.
The legendary singer was nominated for the Rock Hall’s Class of 2024, but was not selected for induction this year. Meanwhile, her attorney Allen Grubman was inducted two years ago.
“My thoughts are, I didn’t get in,” Carey told the Los Angeles Times in a new interview. “Everybody was calling me, going, ‘I think you’re getting in!’ and so I was excited about it. But then it didn’t happen. My lawyer got into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before me.”
Grubman, whose clients include John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and U2, was honored at the 2022 ceremony with the Ahmet Ertegun Award, a lifetime achievement award given to non-performing industry professionals who have had a major influence on the creative development and growth of rock & roll music and youth culture. Past winners include Jimmy Iovine, David Geffen, Quincy Jones, and Sylvia Robinson.
Carey, who has been eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2016, was nominated for the first time this year. Other artists who were nominated but didn’t get in the 2024 class include Lenny Kravitz, Oasis, Sade, Sinead O’Connor and Jane’s Addiction — while Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Mary J. Blige, Dave Matthews Band, Jimmy Buffett, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang and A Tribe Called Quest led this year’s inductees.
Carey is already a Songwriters Hall of Fame member and one of the best-selling artists of all time with hits like “Fantasy,” “Emotions,” “One Sweet Day” (with Boyz II Men),” “Hero,” “Always Be My Baby,” “Honey,” “My All,” “We Belong Together,” and “All I Want for Christmas is You.” But she’s also only won five Grammys despite being nominated 34 times.
“All those songs in a row ended up being so big that you just thought, OK, at least ‘One Sweet Day’ is gonna win best duet or something. Then I sat there the whole time and I didn’t get anything,” Carey told the L.A. Times. “I was like, ‘This is not fun. But what can I do? Be a sore loser and say, F the Grammys?’ Whatever. If they give me more Grammys, I’ll like them more.”
Is it too early to say Carey has been snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Other artists who are eligible but have not been inducted include Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Tori Amos, Beck, Bjork, Blink-182, Blue Oyster Cult, Jeff Buckley, The Carpenters, Tracy Chapman, Chic, Phil Collins, Culture Club, Daft Punk, Devo, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, INXS, Iron Maiden, Grace Jones, Ben E. King, Cyndi Lauper, Massive Attack, Megadeth, The Monkees, Alanis Morissette, Motorhead, Outkast, Pantera, Phish, Salt N Pepa, Smashing Pumpkins, The Smiths, Snoop Dogg, Soundgarden, Steppenwolf, Styx, Three Dog Night, Weezer, and Warren Zevon.
“We’re really powerless over it,” Styx singer-guitarist Tommy Shaw said earlier this year. “We don’t have any influence whatsoever. So to be anticipating it or be disappointed that we’re not in there… I don’t even know who the people are who judge (the Rock Hall), so I can’t really say much about it.”