The nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2021 are in and the list includes Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Mary J. Blige, Iron Maiden, Tina Turner, the Go-Go’s, Rage Against the Machine, Kate Bush , Devo, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Fela Kuti, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Todd Rundgren and Dionne Warwick. The best voters will be announced in May and recorded in the fall during a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio.
To be eligible for this year’s vote, the first single or album of each nominee had to be released in 1995 or earlier. Seven of the 16 appearances on the ballot (Foo Fighters, the Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Carole King, Fela Kuti and Dionne Warwick) appear for the first time, although Carole King was recorded with Gerry Goffin. as a non-educator in 1990 and Tina Tuner entered the institution in 1991 with Ike Turner.
If King and Turner are inaugurated, they will be the second and third female artists to enter the Hall of Fame twice after Stevie Nicks in 2019. It’s also an opportunity for Dave Grohl to enter the Hall of Fame for the second time. after his 2014 inauguration as a member of Nirvana. Foo Fighters and Jay-Z are the only appearances this year to appear on the ballot in their first year of election.
This is the sixth ballot for LL Cool J; a third for Todd Rundgren, Rage Against the Machine, and Chaka Khan; and the second for Kate Bush, Devo, Carole King and the New York Dolls.
According to the Hall of Fame, this is the most diverse vote since 1996, as nine of the 16 nominees contained coloreds.
“This remarkable mood reflects the diversity and depth of the artists and music that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrates,” said John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, in a statement. “These nominees have left an indelible impact on the sonic landscape of the world and have influenced numerous artists who have followed them.”
According to the tradition of the past few years, the Hall of Fame has named the individual members of the group who will join if their group is inaugurated. For Iron Maiden, they mention the current series of singer Bruce Dickinson, bassist Steve Harris, drummer Nicko McBrain, and guitarists Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, and Janick Gers, along with former singer Paul Di’Anno, the former drummer Clive Burr, and former guitarist Dennis Stratton.
For the Foo Fighters, this is the current lineup of Dave Grohl, drummer Taylor Hawkins, bassist Nate Mendel, keyboardist Rami Jaffee, and guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett. Original drummer William Goldsmith and former guitarist Franz Stahl did not make the track.
When Devo Comes In, it’s just the classic 1970s / early eighties classic series by Mark Mothersbaugh, bassist / singer Gerald Casale, drummer Alan Myers, keyboardist / guitarist Bob Casale, and guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh.
For the New York Dolls, it’s frontman David Johansen, bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane, guitarists Johnny Thunders and Sylvain Sylvain, and drummers Jerry Nolan and Billy Murcia. Johansen is the only living New York Doll after the recent death of Sylvain Sylvain.
A voting team of more than 1,000 artists, historians, journalists and members of the music industry will select the new class. From Wednesday, fans will also have the chance to participate in the process by voting on rockhall.com or at an interactive kiosk in the museum in Cleveland. Their choices will count as a single “fan mood” that is tabulated along with the others.
The 2020 Hall of Fame class honored Depeche Mode, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, Notorious BIG, T-Rex and the Doobie Brothers. The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in Cleveland’s Public Hall in May, but was postponed until November due to the pandemic. They eventually had to hold a virtual ceremony that was broadcast on HBO.