The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have just revealed their “Class Of 2021” Nominations, so after some reminder premise on how one achieves such an “honor” I will line out the list for you in full and then offer up some personal editorial viewpoint. Let’s go.

The Criteria: Currently, groups or individuals are qualified for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Nominees should have demonstrable influence and significance within the history of rock and roll. Four categories are recognized: Performers, Non-Performers, Early Influences, and Sidemen (as of 2000). The General Public aka “Fans” get to participate in an online “Fan Voting” process but at the end of the day this really doesn’t amount to anything in terms of the induction process as it all sums up to one single vote.

The Nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021 Are: Mary J. Blige, Kate Bush, Devo, Foo Fighters, the Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Fela Kuti, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine, Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner, and Dionne Warwick.

Mary J. Blige Blige is a multiple award winning artist but mostly in the Rap genre. I can’t say that I’ve listened to a single note of her music and cannot speak to her inclusion in the nominations more than saying, she is not a Rocker Roller but that doesn’t seem to matter anymore in the Rock Hall.

Kate Bush I’ve never listened to Kate Bush and if I did I just can’t recall. No offense of course. She was nominated a few years ago and has made the rundown once again. Someone on the committee is set on her being included.

Devo I never really followed the music of Devo beyond their couple of biggest hits and feel that while important to a certain sound might be too “weird” for the voting committee to put through.

Foo Fighters While the Foo Fighters are a Hard Rock juggernaut they are one of the few bands that I have not managed to see not matter how interested I’ve been in doing so. I cannot see them being overlooked in the voting based on just how much founder Dave Grohl does for music in general.

the Go-Go’s When “Beauty and The Beat” came out in 1981, I didn’t know a single friend who didn’t have either the album or the singles that came along with it. I was already playing Metal with some friends but I had a strong love for the New Wave sound and these ladies were helping to lead the charge. Will “The Beat” that they have generate some official votes or will the judges say that their lips are sealed on the matter.

Iron Maiden As you might expect, I am all about Iron Maiden being included in this establishment because they have remained one of the most relevant forces in Heavy Metal music for decades and still sell out arena after arena.

Jay-Z With Mr. Carter being cited as one of the greatest Rappers of all time, and considering just how important his name is the modern music industry as a whole, I will say that he is an immediate inclusion to the Hall this year.

Chaka Khan We seem to find Chaka Khan nominated every single year and usually with Rufus but this year its her alone. Someone on the committee wants her in and I guess we shall see this until she is a lock. Will this be her year? Maybe but I am not behind it. No offense, just not my thing.

Carole King One of truly great American songwriters of our time and while not what a lot of our readership listens to, Ms. King has written over 100 wildly successful chart-topping singles.

Fela Kuti Having never heard his name before I had to Wiki him and learned he is viewed as a pioneer of “Afrobeat” styling in music. He’s long since passed away and its the first I’ve seen him nominated for a posthumous honor in the years that I’ve been discussing this list.

LL Cool J Though I’m not the biggest Rap fan out there, I do enjoy some Run DMC and of course the early works of LL Cool J and all of this was based on the overall personality of the person. Cool is also a solid actor and very popular from his “NCIS: Los Angeles” show. Will this Rapper be going back to California without being an inductee into the Hall? Too early for me to tell but “No, I don’t think so”…

New York Dolls Progenitors of the Punk and Glam Rock scene, The Dolls surely deserve inclusion into the Rock Hall even if so many of their original, most seminal lineup has left this plane of existence. Hopefully the voting committee doesn’t have a personality crisis when it comes to casting their vote.

Rage Against the Machine We live in dramatic, socio-political times and there was probably no bigger political group in the 90’s than RATM. Personally speaking, they were never quite my thing but after the 2020 year of politics, unrest and civilian outrage about so many different things they might be voted in. Let’s see.

Todd Rundgren I am not the biggest study in the musical body of work of Todd Rundgren but still love the “Bang The Drum All Day” song from many years ago. For me he is more known for his production skills than songs that quickly come to most peoples minds and with Badfinger, Meat Loaf, New York Dolls and Grand Funk Railroad among them maybe this will be his year.

Tina Turner Tina is already in the Hall as a part of the duo she was with former husband Ike Turner. She was a successful solo artist for decades after their split so I am rather sure that she gets in for their oversight for so many years.

Dionne Warwick Ms. Warwick is one of the highest charting singers in the rundown but is for sure not Rock and Roll. She is R&B and Adult Contemporary (Easy Listening etc). I think she will be included based on her musical tenure which makes me more firm on the change of this whole thing to the “Music Hall Of Fame” so no one gets insulted when the list comes out every year.
Notable Oversights: Last years nominations included three seminal Heavy Metal and Hard Rock acts like Judas Priest, Motorhead and Thin Lizzy. I was rather sad to see all three of these overlooked in terms of nominations in this years running.

Who I Will “Fan Vote” For: Iron Maiden, Todd Rundgren, Devo, New York Dolls and Foo Fighters are my choices.

PiercingMetal Thoughts: As this entire narrative lines out my “thoughts”, its time for you to chime in down below and let us know what you think about the nominations and offer up five of your predictions on who makes the cut when the votes are cast. You can do that down below in the comments section and I will see you next time. Don’t forget to do the “Fan Vote” but be aware that it really doesn’t amount to much at the end of the day outside of giving their website a whole lot of traffic. When all is added up, the top artist voted by all of mankind becomes a single vote for said artist in the induction process.

Official Website: https://www.rockhall.com/