30 years of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Ringo Starr, Green Day join others among the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

NEW YORK: Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, the late rocker Lou Reed, punk group Green Day and singer Bill Withers are among the 2015 inductees named on Tuesday to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, rockers Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, rhythm and blues band the 5 Royales, the late blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and the band Double Trouble will also be inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Cleveland on April 18.

“These inductees epitomize rock and roll’s impact over the past 50 years and continuing through today,” Joel Peresman, the president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement.

He added that this year will mark 30 years of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions.

Starr was selected in the music excellence category. He was inducted as a member of The Beatles in 1988. His band mates have since entered the Hall of Fame as solo artists: John Lennon in 1994, Paul McCartney in 1999 and George Harrison in 2004.

Reed, whose work with The Velvet Underground made them one of the most influential groups in rock; Green Day and Ain’t No Sunshine singer Withers were selected in the performer category, along with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

More than 700 artists, music industry professionals and historians help to decide who is inducted. The public also cast their votes in a ‘fans ballot.’

Artists are eligible 25 years after the release of their first record for induction into the Hall of Fame, which was established in 1983.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2014.

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