Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2015: Here's who's being inducted
Inductees include Green Day, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Lou Reed, among others. The induction ceremony will be held this April.
Billie Joe Armstrong performs during a Green Day concert at the Barclays Center in New York in 2013.
Jason DeCrow/Invision/AP
The 2015 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will include Green Day, Lou Reed, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Bill Withers. Reed has already entered the Hall of Fame with his band the Velvet Underground in 1996.
In addition, Ringo Starr will be given the Award for Musical Excellence and the “5” Royales, an R&B group from the 1950s, is receiving the Early Influence Award.
Those who did not make the cut this year include singer Sting, the band the Smiths, and the band Nine Inch Nails.
Withers spoke with Rolling Stone about his inclusion. “I never thought it was some kind of entitlement or something," he said. "I just never felt that anyone owed me this. It's something that's nice that happened. I guess I'll have to go buy a suit.”
Meanwhile, Jett called her upcoming induction “surreal and very humbling” in an interview with Rolling Stone.
“It's a culmination of all you've dreamed about doing as a musician,” she said. “I've always been hopeful [that I'd get in] because I think it's an incredible acknowledgment. I'm very proud to be with all these great musicians. It's going to take a few minutes to sink in before I see how I really feel about it.”
As noted by the Washington Post, Green Day enters the Hall of Fame in the first year it was eligible to be inducted. Acts must have released a single or album 25 years ago to be considered for inclusion - the band released the EP “1,000 Hours” in 1989.
Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong told Rolling Stone, “We're in incredible company and I'm still trying to make sense of this. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has always held something special for me because my heroes were in there. This is a great time for us to sort of reflect and look back with gratitude.”
The induction ceremony will be held on April 18.