Tina Turner, Jay-Z, Foo Fighters among 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees
Tina Turner #TinaTurner
Jay-Z, the Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Carole King, Todd Rundgren and Tina Turner are the newest inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the organization announced Wednesday morning.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame said its 2021 class includes the “most diverse list of Inductees in the history of the organization.” Three of them are two-time inductees.
Dave Grohl, who founded the Foo Fighters in Seattle in 1994 following the death of Kurt Cobain, was inducted with Nirvana in 2014. King, the iconic raspy-voiced singer-songwriter, was inducted with Gerry Goffin in 1990. And Turner, known as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” was previously inducted with Ike Turner in 1991.
“This diverse class of talented inductees reflects the Hall’s ongoing commitment to honor artists whose music created the sound of youth culture,” said John Sykes, chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.
To be eligible for induction, artists have to had released their first record 25 years earlier and “have created music whose originality, impact and influence has changed the course of rock & roll,” according to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s and Jay-Z were on the ballot for the first time this year.
Musicians and groups who were nominated but not inducted were Mary J. Blige, Kate Bush, Devo, Iron Maiden, Chaka Khan, Fela Kuti, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine and Dionne Warwick.
LL Cool J has been nominated six times without success. Khan has been nominated three times as a solo artist and four times as a member of Rufus. Rage Against the Machine and Rundgren have been nominated three times. Devo, Bush and the New York Dolls have been nominated two times.
Meanwhile, the Foo Fighters and Jay-Z were inducted during their first year of eligibility.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame allows fans to vote on the nominees. The top five artists in that vote make up a “Fan’s ballot” that gets tallied with the rest of the ballots. Turner topped the fan vote.
The 36th annual ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. ET Oct. 30 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Ahmet Ertegun Award this year will go to Clarence Avant, 90, a music executive, film producer and entrepreneur who played a part in deals over the last 60 years that involved Black music talent, Black culture or civil rights. Dubbed the Black Godfather, a Netflix documentary about him premiered in 2019.
The Musical Excellence Award will go to LL Cool J, Billy Preston and Randy Rhoads. And the Early Influence Award will go to Kraftwerk, Gil Scott Heron and Charley Patton.
Last year, Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G. and T.Rex were the inductees.