The Class of 2021 will all be making the trip to Cleveland this October.
Six new inductees will be formally ushered in as 2021’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class. Jay-Z, Tina Turner, Carole King, Todd Rundgren, the Go-Go’s, and Foo Fighters are all heading to Cleveland.
Also being welcomed to the hall are several other artists that are being inducted in other categories, including two artists that have been repeatedly nominated in the past without being voted in, Kraftwerk and LL Cool J. Among the main crop of a half-dozen inductees, Turner and King are receiving their second inductions. Turner, as part of the Ike and Tina Turner group, was voted into the hall in 1991; and King, when she and Gerry Goffin were songwriters in 1990.
Neither had ever been nominated as a solo artist until this year.
King and Turner are the second and third women to be selected for induction twice, after Stevie Nicks, and with most of the class also first-timers this year’s class has conversations budding on social media. For Jay-Z, the Brooklyn-born rapper became the first living solo rapper to be inducted in their first year of eligibility—which is 25 years after an artist’s debut record. He will join music’s exclusive club alongside posthumous inductions for Tupac Shakur (2017) and the Notorious B.I.G. (2020), making him the third solo rapper to do so overall.
Other inductees include the legendary singer-songwriter Billy Preston and the rapper LL Cool J, who are receiving a “Musical Excellence Award.” Kraftwerk, the electronica soul-jazz band, is being recognized with an Early Influence Award.
In a singular distinction of receiving the Ahmet Ertegun Award, this year will find Clarence Avant, the culture-shifting, industry trailblazer who was the subject of Netflix’s The Black Godfather (2019).
The 36th annual ceremony will follow the successful 93rd Academy Awards, set for Oct. 30 at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Tickets have yet to be announced since this marks a return to live proceedings after 2020’s virtual, pre-recorded event, but an edited version will be available on HBO and HBO Max.
