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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Joan Baez is one of five first-time nominees who will be going into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2017.
Eligible since the inaugural class was inducted in 1986 induction, the folk singer, activist and peer (and former lover) of inductee Bob Dylan is the biggest surprise in a group that will include Electric Light Orchestra, Journey, Pearl Jam, Tupac Shakur and Yes in the performer category, and Chic's Nile Rodgers in the non-performer award for musical excellence slot.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation CEO Joel Peresman on satellite radio station Sirius XM - a Rock Hall and induction ceremony sponsor - at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20.
Eddie Vedder's Pearl Jam and Shakur both are going into the Rock Hall in their first year of eligibility, and their induction was pretty much expected, though the late rapper's enshrinement is likely to bring out the usual catcalls against hip-hop artists being installed in the Rock Hall.
Jeff Lynne's ELO, eligible since 1996, and Journey, which qualified for induction in 2000, are the other first-time nominees who will be enshrined in ceremonies at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday, April 7.
Four of the inductees - Journey, ELO, Pearl Jam and Yes - finished in the top five in the Rock Hall's online fan balloting. Yes, the groundbreaking British prog-rock group, actually won the balloting last year, but was omitted from the inductees.
Rodgers is the face and brains behind the groove-creating disco-era band Chic, which itself was nominated for a record 11th time, but failed to gain entry.
Also missing the cut were Bad Brains, Chaka Khan, Depeche Mode, Jane's Addiction, Janet Jackson, the J. Geils Band, Joe Tex, Kraftwerk, MC5, Steppenwolf, the Cars and the Zombies.
Bad Brains, Depeche Mode and Steppenwolf also were first-time nominees.
The Rock Hall will announce the on-sale date and prices for tickets to the induction ceremony in January. At that time, the institution also will reveal prices for the simulcast that will be aired at the Rock Hall itself.
Rock Hall members - those who are currently members or who sign up before Dec. 31, 2016 - will be able to get tickets in advance of the public on-sale date. Information about those presales will be announced at a later date, the Rock Hall said.
Artists and bands become eligible for the Rock Hall 25 years after their first recording is released. A 29-member nominating committee that is chaired by public relations veteran Jon Landau and includes the Rock Hall's president and CEO, Greg Harris, chose the nominees. Among the others are Hall of Famers Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band and Robbie Robertson of the Band.
The final choices were made by about 900 voters in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, including all living Rock Hall inductees and industry insiders, among them a few current and former music journalists.