Metal! R&B! Glam! Goth! The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame lets its hair down a little bit tonight, pours some sugar on itself and opens its gates to several worthy artists whom rock's gatekeepers have done their best to keep out over the years (and oh the lengths they went to). It's about time. It's about rhythm. It's about pop. It's about some expression in someone's eyes. It's about seeing, and acknowledging, the cultures and subcultures that rock has always drawn its lifeblood from, and without which there would be no music and no people to put in the museum in the first place. It's about accepting that insularity and purity will almost always lead to death. It's about making a little more room on the dancefloor and having a little more fun. It's also, whether you're talking about DEF LEPPARD or JANET JACKSON or ROXY MUSIC or the CURE, rock and roll. MusicSET: "Hysteria: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2019"... While we're on the subject of gatekeepers, Nashville's rejection of LIL NAS X's viral trap & western hit "OLD TOWN ROAD," as expressed through BILLBOARD delisting the song from its Hot Country Songs chart, has blown up into a bit of a social media war. Racism. Not racism. Nuanced discussion. An avowal that "we invented country music" and we "will not be erased." Etc. It's a discussion probably worth having about a song definitely worth hearing. But what are we discussing when we're discussing all this? Are we discussing music? (Billboard: "'Old Town Road’... does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version." Which elements are those? Can we see that PowerPoint? Has FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE seen that PowerPoint?) Are we discussing promotional strategies and dollars? Are we discussing literary intent? Are we discussing geography? Are we discussing—and this is where it potentially gets ugly—people? In the middle of all this, ROLLING STONE's MARISSA R. MOSS tweeted out her 2017 story about MIDLAND, a talented and controversial trio that Nashville has welcomed with a combination of ACM AWARD nominations and suspicious glances. "Authenticity in music," Moss wrote, "isn’t a blue checkmark on Twitter. At best, it’s a feeling. At its worst, it’s a cage." Later this year, the COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME will induct a man best known as a singer of novelty songs. Some people are unhappy about this. Others are delighted, partly because they're aware of what RAY STEVENS has done beyond novelties. Lil Nas X would like Nashville to know he isn't a novelty singer either. And he gets the last word, for now... "Who came up with payed meet and greets?" Your spelling needs some work, MATTY HEALY, but your concern for, and connection to, your fans is exemplary. Respect... It's FRIDAY and that means new music from BILLIE EILISH, MDOU MOCTAR, QUELLE CHRIS, LION BABE, LAURA STEVENSON, SHAFIQ HUSAYN, GEORGE STRAIT, JUST LOUD, ZAMAERA, STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES, JAKE OWEN, FLOATING POINTS, SAWEETIE, CHOOSEY & EXILE, SHOW ME THE BODY, the MEKONS, JOSHUA REDMAN QUARTET, AMIRTHA KIDAMBI, DEVIN TOWNSEND, SUZI QUATRO, GRUPO FANTASMA, DJ MUGGS & MACH-HOMMY, BILLY WOODS & KENNY SEGAL, UNKLE, FENNESZ, BETH GIBBONS & THE POLISH NATIONAL RADIO SYMPHONY, JONI VOID, YELAWOLF, GANG OF FOUR, EDWYN COLLINS, BEN PLATT, KÁRYYN, BIRDMAN & JUVENILE, WHITECHAPEL, O.A.R., SON VOLT, CHRIS JONES & THE NIGHT DRIVERS and MARVIN GAYE's lost 1972 album YOU'RE THE MAN... RIP STEPHEN FITZPATRICK and AUDUN LAADING of the Liverpool indie-rock duo HER'S, killed in a van accident while on tour in California Wednesday. Their tour manager, TREVOR ENGELBREKTSON, was also killed... RIP also JOE FLANNERY, who managed the BEATLES' bookings in the early '60s.