In defense of the Beastie Boys, they do a lot more than rap. While much of their work is hip-hop and based in sampling, there are also large portions of it with "real" musical accompaniment provided by the B-Boys themselves. While none of them are virtuosos, they happen to be three pretty capable musicians who can lock in on a funk groove as well as many other bands. They also happen to be quite good lyricists as far as hip-hop goes excelling in well-placed referential humor.

Tom Waits needs no defense. The man is a genius, period. He's far and away one of the most brilliant lyricists in music. His music spans just about every genre of western popular music from blues to country to jazz to funk to punk to gospel and back again. He's worked with some of the most talented musicians on the planet and generated several truly classic albums that stand the test of time a lot better than many other albums of their time periods. There's also a lot more to that voice than gravel. It's easy to write him off as "that gravelly blues singer" but throughout the catalog there's so much more to it. His is really one of the more diverse voices around and without question one of the most authentic.

Of course, I think the whole thing, like awards shows or "best of" lists is a total joke and I'm not sure I'd rather my favorite artists be in or out.

And yeah, Rush being snubbed again is just plain wrong.