2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced 16 artists have been nominated for its 2021 induction class. The 2021 inductees will be announced in May with an induction ceremony scheduled to take place in Cleveland this Fall.

The nominations are typically announced in October with inductees announced early the following calendar year. This year the nominations and inductions were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In order to be considered eligible, artists or bands must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years ago. The following is the list of artists nominated for 2021. In parentheses are listed the total times historically the artist has been nominated.

• Mary J. Blige (1)
• Kate Bush (2)
• Devo (2)
• Foo Fighters (1)
• The Go-Go’s (1)
• Iron Maiden (1)
• Jay-Z (1)
• Chaka Khan (3)
• Carole King (2)
• Fela Kuti (1)
• LL Cool J (6)
• New York Dolls (2)
• Rage Against The Machine (3)
• Todd Rundgren (3)
• Tina Turner (1)
• Dionne Warwick (1)

Two artists were nominated in the first year of eligibility – the Foo Fighters and Jay-Z. Other acts nominated for the first time (but were previously eligible) include Mary J Blige, Fela Kuti, The Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Tina Turner, and Dionne Warwick For the New York Dolls, it is their second nomination and first in 20 years while for Carole King it’s her first nomination in 32 years!

As for LL Cool J, it’s the sixth time he has been nominated for induction.

The Foo Fighters, Carole King, Rage Against the Machine, Jay-Z, and Tina Turner were projected nominees by this author last month.

Selections for induction are done by an “International panel of music experts”. Like last year, a fan voting component will be available on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website. The top five artists, as selected by the public, will comprise a “fans’ ballot” that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2021 inductees.