Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2015 Class Includes Green Day, Ringo Starr, Joan Jett, More
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced the 2015 class, and there is no shortage of talent in those that will be landing the great honor. Green Day, Joan Jett, and Ringo Starr lead the class, but there are so many great names that will be enshrined at the induction ceremony in April.
Rolling Stone reported that Ringo Starr is actually going to be given the Award For Musical Excellence. The Early Influence Award will be going to the R&B group from the 1950s, the “5” Royales.
The full list of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees for 2015 are Lou Reed, Green Day, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Ringo Starr, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Bill Withers, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Jett was extremely happy of going in with such a talented group of musicians.
“I think it’s incredible, I’m very proud to be with all these great musicians.” – #JoanJett #RockHall2015 pic.twitter.com/GKGdwxikTi
— Joan Jett (@joanjett) December 16, 2014
The officials Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony is going to be on April 18, 2015, at Cleveland’s Publica Hal. The general public is going to be allowed to attend the event and tickets go on sale on December 18. As Joel Peresman, the Hall’s Foundation president put it, each inductee for 2015 is an influence in their genre.
“There’s often not (an artistic) thread. In this particular group, I do think that all of them are traditionalists in some way, but all of these artists draw from their own influences, be it punk rock, blues, R&B or something else.”
According to USA Today, the inductees for the class were chosen by the Hall’s voting committee that consists of more than 700 members. Included in that group are musical artists, music industry members, and historians.
Some may think it seems too early for Green Day to be inducted, but they have been around longer than you may think. They also have met the qualifications needed to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
To be eligible, the first single or album of a musical act must have been released at least 25 years ago. In this case, that would be at least 1989 and it led to 15 acts being nominated for the 2015 class. From there, a fan vote took place and it counted as a ballot in the official voting.
After the fan votes was over, Stevie Ray Vaughan led with just over 30 percent.
Both Jett and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day called the honor “surreal” and can’t believe they’ll be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They had better believe it because it will be happening in just about five months for a very deserving group of artists.
[Image via Rock Hall Twitter]
