Earlier this morning, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the results of the voting process to select their 2017 honorees. Among the inductees are Pearl Jam, Tupac Shakur, Journey, Yes, Electric Light Orchestra and Joan Baez. In addition, Nile Rodgers will be given the award for musical excellence. Tupac’s induction makes him the sixth MC elected to the Hall.
Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their debut, with 2017 marking the first year of eligibility for both Tupac and Pearl Jam. Prog-rockers Yes are set to enter after their third appearance on the ballot, while Journey didn’t even appear on the ballot until this year. Joan Baez, on the other hand, was caught completely off guard by her nomination, and ultimate induction. “I never considered myself to be a rock and roll artist,” she said in a statement to Rolling Stone. Nile Rodgers’ Musical Excellence Award comes as a bittersweet honor after his band Chic was nominated for induction eleven times, without ever winning.
With the induction ceremony set for April 7th, 2017 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, there is always the chance that we will get the chance to see a reunion of the classic lineups of both Yes and Journey, the latter of which haven’t performed together since 1991 (one year before the release of the albums that made Pearl Jam and Tupac eligible for the Hall).
Ticket details for the ceremony will be announced early in the New Year, and if past years proceedings are any indication, an edited version of the ceremony will air on HBO in mid-June.
