Bad medicine from Rock Hall: Bon Jovi snubbed

Last year, Bon Jovi was nominated for but not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This year, the Central Jersey band is not even nominated.

Michele Amabile, a music journalist and disc jockey for Ocean Townshipbased WJLK-FM (94.3 The Point), was all but speechless upon receiving the news of Bon Jovi’s non-nomination.

“I don’t understand,” Amabile said. “How can you be nominated one year and blown off the next? Why are they snubbed? Is there a New Jersey backlash because of (the MTV show) ‘Jersey Shore?’ ”

The Beastie Boys, the Cure, Donovan, Eric B. & Rakim, Guns N’ Roses (which will play at the Izod Center in East Rutherford on Nov. 17), Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Freddie King, Laura Nyro, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rufus with Chaka Khan, the Small Faces/Faces, the Spinners, Donna Summer and War make up the 2012 nominees for induction into the hall. The list of nominees was announced Tuesday.

“The 2012 nominees embody the broad scope of what ‘rock and roll’ means,” Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. “From vocal groups to hip-hop, from singer-songwriters to hard-rocking artists, this group represents the spirit of what we celebrate at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

Ballots will be sent to more than 500 voters, who will then select the artists to be inducted, according to a prepared statement. An individual artist or band must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination — in this case, 1986 — to be considered for induction.

Notables not nominated this year include Kiss, Judas Priest and the Moody Blues.

Bon Jovi has sold more than 130 million records, and is among the top touring acts in rock music. The band’s members are Jon Bon Jovi, who grew up in Sayreville and has a home in Middletown; Richie Sambora, who grew up in Woodbridge; David Bryan, formerly of Edison and now of Colts Neck; and Tico Torres, formerly of Woodbridge.

The band’s numerous hits include “You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Livin’ On a Prayer,” “Wanted Dead Or Alive” and “It’s My Life.”

“They are a working band that continues to record,” Amabile said. “They’re active participants in the rock community. They carry the torch for rock just as much as other band.”

A spokesperson for the band had no comment.