VIBE
Tina Turner, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, and (finally) Todd James “LL Cool J” Smith will be inducted into the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. On early Wednesday morning (May 12), it was announced that Turner and Carter would headline the performer’s category with the Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Carole King, and Todd Rundgren. Carter made history by becoming the third solo rap artist to be inducted in their first year of eligibility.
In addition to Hov, rap icon LL Cool J—who has received six nominations in the performers category without an induction—is set to receive the Musical Excellence Award alongside fellow honorees, the late Billy Preston, and Randy Rhoads. With last year’s induction of The Notorious B.I.G., this year’s recognition of two of rap’s most celebrated and decorated artists showcases the RRHOF’s gradual embrace of hip-hop culture; John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation pegged 2021 as having its most “diverse class.”
This year’s inductees include multiple artists receiving their second induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Turner is being inducted as a solo artist thirty years after receiving her first induction as part of the duo, Ike and Tina Turner. Carole King was inducted with collaborator Gerry Goffin in 1990 as a non-performer, while Foo Fighters drummer Dave Grohl was voted in as Nirvana’s drummer in 2014. Famed poet and musician Gil Scott Heron, Kraftwerk, and Charley Patton will receive the Early Influence Award, while music industry veteran Clarence Avant, the subject of the 2019 Netflix documentary, Black Godfather, will be honored with the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
Artists who were nominated this year, but just missed the cut include Mary J. Blige, Chaka Khan, Dionne Warwick, Fela Kuti, Kate Bush, Devo, Iron Maiden, New York Dolls, and Rage Against the Machine.
The 36th annual Rock & Roll Induction Ceremony will be held on Oct. 30 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, simulcast on SiriusXM’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Radio Channel 310, and premiere on HBO and HBO Max.