Rock & Roll Hall of Fame unveils most diverse group of inductees ever

Jay-Z
(Image credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Meet the latest inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Wednesday unveiled its 2021 inductees, and in the performer category, they were Tina Turner, Carole King, The Go-Go's, Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, and Todd Rundgren. Outside of the performer category, Kraftwerk, Charley Patton, and Gil Scott-Heron are set to receive the Early Influence Award, and LL Cool J, Billy Preston, and Randy Rhoads will receive the Musical Excellence Award. Executive Clarence Avant will also receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

This, the announcement noted, was the "most diverse list of inductees in the history of the organization."

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A larger group of sixteen nominees for this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was revealed back in February, but among the artists who didn't make the final list were Mary J. Blige and Dionne Warwick.

"This diverse class of talented Inductees reflects the Rock Hall's ongoing commitment to honor artists whose music created the sound of youth culture," Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation chair John Sykes said.

Three of the inductees, Rolling Stone notes, are actually being inducted into the Hall of Fame for a second time: Dave Grohl, Tina Turner, and Carole King. "It's very difficult to get inducted twice and we have three this year," Sykes noted to Rolling Stone.

This year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is set to take place on Oct. 30.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan is a staff writer at The Week. A graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in journalism, he also writes about horror films for Bloody Disgusting and has previously contributed to The Cheat Sheet, Heavy, WhatCulture, and more. He lives in New York City surrounded by Star Wars posters.