The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has officially announced this year’s inductees. And among the Rock Hall's 2021 class are Hip-Hop legends LL COOL J and Jay-Z.
LL COOL J, along with soul legend Billy Preston and heavy metal guitar god Randy Rhoads, will be honored in the category of Musical Excellence; Jay-Z is alongside Foo Fighters, The Go-Go's, Carole King, Todd Rundgren and Tina Turner in the Performers category.
Gil Scott Heron and Charley Patton will get the Early Influence Award, and Sussex Records founder Clarence Avant is being given the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
This marks Turner's second induction (Ike & Tina Turner were inducted in 1991), as well as King's (inducted as a songwriter with partner Gerry Goffin in 1990) and Grohl's (Nirvana was inducted in 2014).
LL COOL J broke out big in the mid-1980s as one of the standard-bearing stars of Def Jam Recordings, igniting a 35 year career of platinum-selling successes and cultural influence. Jay-Z has also built a legacy of longevity and excellence, launching Roc-A-Fella Records and emerging in the late 1990s to become one of rap's most iconic and influential artists.
“This is our most diverse class in the history of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” says chairman John Sykes, who is also IHeartMedia’s President of Entertainment Enterprises. “It really represents the Hall’s ongoing commitment to honor the artists that have created not only rock and roll, but the sound of youth culture.”
The induction ceremony will be held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on October 30th. It will be broadcast on HBO Max and Streamed on HBO Max at a later date, as yet unannounced.