The next class inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame could include punk rockers Green Day, the influential Nine Inch Nails and seminal rap group N.W.A.
15 acts are up for induction, including first-year-eligible Nine Inch Nails and Green Day.
The next class inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame could include punk rockers Green Day, the influential Nine Inch Nails and seminal rap group N.W.A.
Those are just three of the 15 acts that are nominated for induction into the institution in 2015.
Others include Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; Lou Reed; The Smiths; The Spinners; Sting; Chic; Kraftwerk; The Marvelettes; Bill Withers; War; Stevie Ray Vaughan; and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
In order to be eligible for nomination, a music act had to release its first recording in 1989 or earlier. According to Billboard, that means Green Day and Nine Inch Nails are up for induction in their first year of eligibility. Nine Inch Nails’ first album, “Pretty Hate Machine,” marks its 25th anniversary this month, and Green Day’s EP “1,000 Hours” dropped in April 1989.
The Smiths, Bill Withers, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Sting are newcomers to the ballot as well. (Sting was previously inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame as a member of Police but is now up for induction as a solo artist.)
This eclectic group of 2015 nominees “represent the myriad places where rock and roll converges with blues, electronic, dance, Motown, R&B, funk and other genres,” Joel Peresman, the head of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. “Rock and roll incorporates the styles of so many different kinds of music and that’s what makes this group of nominees — and this art form — so powerful and unique.”
For the third year, fans will get their say in which acts they think should be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by voting on Rolling Stone’s website or at RockHall.com.
The 2015 class of inductees will be announced in December, followed by an induction ceremony in April 2015.
The 2014 Rock Hall class included Cat Stevens, Nirvana, KISS, Hall & Oates, Linda Ronstadt and Peter Gabriel.
