The Smiths, Kraftwerk, Lou Reed and Green Day are among the newest nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fifteen artists have been added to the shortlist for the institution’s 2015 induction ceremony, with the notable absence of Deep Purple.
Only a handful of the 15 Hall finalists will receive enough votes to be inducted at next April’s ceremony. The complete list consists of the aforementioned artists plus Chic, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, the Marvelettes, Nine Inch Nails, NWA, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Spinners, Sting, Stevie Ray Vaughn, War and Bill Withers. To be eligible for the hall, acts must have released their first recordings at least 25 years ago.
Although there are several notable omissions from this year’s shortlist - among them Sonic Youth, the Pixies and T Rex - Deep Purple are certainly the most glaring. The English rockers have been eligible for the Hall since 1993. Previous inductees like Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and Rush’s Geddy Lee have complained at the oversight, naming the band as one of their biggest influences, and Deep Purple’s Roger Glover recently revealed that the group feels so snubbed that they might reject an invitation to join the Hall. “They should have done it when Jon Lord was still alive when it probably would have had a bit more meaning,” he said. “We might just say, ‘You know, forget it. Too late.’”
This year at least, Deep Purple won’t have the chance to turn the Hall down. Instead, the organisation is proposing to honour Sting, who is already enshrined there as a member of the Police, and Reed, who was inducted with the Velvet Underground in 1996. Nine of this year’s finalists have been nominated before, including NWA, who have been shortlisted for each of the past three years, and Chic, for whom it’s the ninth nod.
Green Day, on the other hand, only became eligible for the accolade this year. “It’s hard to believe it’ll be 25 years since we released some of our first music,” frontman Billie Joe Armstrong said in a statement. “We are honoured to be considered for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with many of our heroes.” The group have made two prior appearances at the induction gala, celebrating the Ramones in 2002 and opening the 2012 show with a performance of one of their own songs.
More than 700 artists, historians and music executives will submit ballots to vote for the final slate of 2015 Hall inductees. One of these ballots - which is to say, about 0.14% of the final decision - will be determined by a fans’ online poll.
The 2015 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Cleveland, Ohio on 18 April.
