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\n\tOne thing is for sure every year around the time of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies \u2014 there\u2019s going to be talk about bands. Of course, there\u2019s which bands are getting in this year, and who from those bands is showing up and\/or performing, and which members from their earlier or later history have gone unfairly unrecognized. And then inevitably, there\u2019s discussion to which bands have yet to get in, and which are the most overlooked and which seem destined to forever be on the outside. And then finally: Which previously ineligible bands will soon be up for voting for the first time \u2014 and do any of them have a real chance of getting in?<\/p>\n
\n\tWith this year\u2019s Rock Hall induction finally happening this month, we think it\u2019s a good time to look back on rock\u2019s history \u2014 from the very beginning up until this century \u2014 and figure out which rock bands we at Billboard<\/em> think still serve as the benchmarks for greatness. Which of the established canon of rock greats do we still think still merit their spots in the genre\u2019s inner circle? Which newer artists do we think belong in there with them? Which artists from regrettably oft-excluded subgenres (or nationalities) do we think additional room should now be made for? And who do we think is still the absolute best of the best?<\/p>\n \n\tOver the past three weeks, we\u2019ve been counting down our picks for the 50 greatest rock bands of all time, finishing this Wednesday (Nov. 19) with the top 10. We tried to keep the focus on true bands, so we didn\u2019t include vocal groups (who don\u2019t play the majority of their own instruments) \u2014 or bands who mostly fell in back of their top-billed frontperson \u2014 but we weren\u2019t overly fussy in defining \u201crock\u201d from there. Read our choices over the next few weeks, let us know your own picks, and long live rock and its many exemplary practitioners.<\/p>\n