JAY-Z, FOOS LEAD ROCK HALL BALLOT

Jay-Z and Foo Fighters have made it onto the ballot for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in their first years of eligibility. Seven of the 16 nominees are first-timers.

The ballot of 16 acts includes artists whose names have been in contention in recent years: Rage Against the Machine, Devo, Iron Maiden, LL Cool J, the New York Dolls and Todd Rundgren.

First-timers include Carole King, who is already in the hall as a songwriter, and The Go-Go’s, who have the weight of a recent documentary and Internet campaigns behind them this year. They're among the seven women nominated; Kate Bush, a nominee in 2018, frequent Hall of Fame ceremony participant Mary J. Blige, Chaka Khan, first-timer Dionne Warwick and Tina Turner, who was inducted in 1991 with Ike Turner, are also on the ballot.

Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl, already in as a member of Nirvana, has the opportunity to become a two-time inductee along with Turner and King.

The lone outlier is the influential creator of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti, who makes his first appearance on the ballot.

“This remarkable ballot reflects the diversity and depth of the artists and music the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrates,” Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Chairman John Sykes said in a statement. “These nominees have left an indelible impact on the sonic landscape of the world and influenced countless artists that have followed them.”

Inductees will be announced in May; the Induction Ceremony will take place in Cleveland this fall.

Ballots are sent to an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians and other music-industry figures. According to the rock hall, an artist’s musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and body of work, innovation and superiority in style and technique, among other factors, are weighed by voters.