BY RICHARD JOHNSON—
Observer senior reporter—
Toots Hibbert—
When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its list of nominees for induction for 2021, reggae great Toots Hibbert was not among those named.
This comes despite a valiant effort, including a petition, to have the man credited with giving the reggae genre its name over half a century ago, included in the coveted list of luminaries. The effort — mounted by reggae insiders Roger Steffens, Wayne Jobson and Mikey Pawka of reggae website niceup.com — saw a petition garnering near 10,000 signatures which was submitted to the nominations committee of the US-based organization ahead of the January 2021 deadline.
On Wednesday, the committee announced 16 acts which have been nominated and Hibbert — who died on September 11 last year — was not among those selected. The nominees are Mary J Blige, Kate Bush, Devo, Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Fela Kuti, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine, Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner, and Dionne Warwick.
To be eligible for nomination, an individual artiste or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. Seven out of 16 of the nominees are on the ballot for the first time, including Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Mary J Blige, Fela Kuti, and Dionne Warwick. Chaka Khan was previously nominated both solo and with the band Rufus. If elected, Carole King and Tina Turner will become the second and third female artistes inducted twice, following Stevie Nicks’ 2019 election. If Foo Fighters are inducted, Dave Grohl will also become a twice-inducted performer.
Nominee ballots are sent to an international voting body of more than 1,000 artistes, historians, and members of the music industry. Factors such as an artiste’s musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation and superiority in style and technique are taken into consideration.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame offers fans the opportunity to participate in the induction selection process with the Fan Vote. Fans can vote until April 30 at rockhall.com, or at the Museum in Cleveland. The top five artistes, as selected by the public, will comprise a “fans’ ballot” that will be tallied along with the other ballots to select the 2021 Inductees.
Inductees will be announced in May and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2021 induction ceremony will take place in Cleveland, Ohio, in the latter part of the year.
Only two other Jamaican artistes have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, reggae king Bob Marley, who was named in 1994, and Jimmy Cliff, who was added in 2009.
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