2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees List Includes Pearl Jam, Tupac Shakur, Jane’s Addiction, Joan Baez, Depeche Mode & More

The list of first-time nominees for the 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of fame is a mix of alt-rock superstars, a hip-hop legend, one of the most pioneering punk bands of the 1980s and a folk icon. Nominees on the ballot the first time include punk/reggae/jazz hardcore rockers Bad Brains, grunge-superstars-turned-great-American-band Pearl Jam, alt rock standard bearers Jane’s Addiction, gangsta rap godhead Tupac Shakur and synth poppers Depeche Mode, as well as pop classicists Electric Light Orchestra, folksinger Joan Baez, “Don’t Stop Believing” legends Journey and highway rockers Steppenwolf. Pearl Jam and Shakur became eligible for nomination for the first time this year, as nominees must have released their first recording no later than 1991 (i.e. 25 years after the release of their first commercially available record).

Last year’s inductees included N.W.A, Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, Chicago and Steve Miller.

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Among the acts on the ballot again this year are: Chaka Khan, Chic, J. Geils Band, Janet Jackson, Joe Tex, Kraftwerk, MC5, The Cars, The Zombies and Yes.

Ballots will soon be sent out to an international voting body of more than 800 artists, historians and members of the music industry, who will narrow the list down to the final five inductees based on a variety of factors, including an artist’s “musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation and superiority in style and technique.” The final list of inductees will be announced in December, with the ceremony slated for New York’s Barclay’s Center in April 2017.

The nominees where revealed on Tuesday morning (Oct. 18) by 2014 Rock and Roll HOF inductee Steve Van Zandt and RRHOF Foundation CEO Joel Peresman live on SiriusXM’s new all music talk channel Volume, during the “Feedback” morning show.

Fans can once again participate in the selection process beginning on Tuesday (Oct. 18) by visiting rockhall.com to vote for who they believe deserves to be in the Hall in Cleveland. The top five artists on the fans ballot will be counted along with the other ballots to help choose the 2017 nominees; voting will be open through Dec. 5, with one ballot per day.

The full list of 2017 RRHOF nominees:

Bad Brains

Chaka Khan

Chic

Depeche Mode

Electric Light Orchestra

J. Geils Band

Jane’s Addiction

Janet Jackson

Joan Baez

Joe Tex

Journey

Kraftwerk

MC5

Pearl Jam

Steppenwolf

The Cars

The Zombies

Tupac Shakur

Yes

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