It’s fitting that in a year when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies will be held in Cleveland, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum, that Cleveland’s Trent Reznor leads the list of nominees for 2015 as Nine Inch Nails. To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, an artist must have a single or album released at least 25 years ago. It was 1989 when Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine was released, making Reznor, who’s already won a Grammy and an Oscar, an almost automatic nominee. Also on the list as a near- automatic nominee is Green Day. Other acts include Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, N.W.A., Lou Reed, Sting, Stevie Ray Vaughan, War, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, The Smiths, The Spinners, Bill Withers, Kraftwerk and The Marvelettes. Aside from Green Day and Nine Inch Nails, SRV and Lou Reed seem like instant locks, as well as The Smiths.
Nine Inch Nails, Green Day, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Smiths and Bill Withers are first time nominees, and while Sting has been nominated for The Police, this is his first solo nomination. Fans will be able to vote – kind of. The general public will be able to go to rockhall.com, rollingstone.com and usatoday.com to vote for their favorites, and the top five public poll vote-getters will count as a single ballot alongside the other 700 or so ballots cast by other artists and music industry types. In December, the Class of 2015 will be announced, and the actual awards ceremony will take place in Cleveland’s Public Hall on Saturday, April 18, 2015.
It’s fitting that NIN and Green Day are nominated, but it’s still a crime against music that Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, T. Rex, Pantera and King Crimson still haven’t even garnered a nomination. Maybe the Hall of Fame is still smarting from the KISS debacle last year.
[via Cleveland .com]
