The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame has revealed its nominees for the Class of 2022.

Eminem, Kate Bush, Beck, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Rage Against The Machine, A Tribe Called Quest, Carly Simon, Judas Priest, Fela Kuti, New York Dolls, Dionne Warwick, MC5, DEVO and Pat Benatar have made the nominees list.

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A body of more than 1,000 artists, industry members and historians will help decide which five acts out of the 17 will progress into the final round of induction consideration. Fans also have the chance to contribute to the selection process by voting every day here or at the museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

Five acts will then be tallied among the other ballots to ultimately decide the Class of 2022.

Eminem
Eminem. Image: Kevin Winter / Getty Images.

This year marks the first time that Eminem has become eligible for a nomination. The Rock Hall’s rule is that an act must have released their first commercial recording 25 years earlier than the year of the nomination.

Eminem joins Beck, Duran Duran, Lionel Richie, A Tribe Called Quest, Carly Simon and Dolly Parton in being a first-time Rock Hall nominees this year, although several of those acts have been eligible before 2022.

As Billboard notes, this is the sixth nomination for Detroit rockers MC5 and the fourth nod for Rage Against The Machine. Kate Bush, Judas Priest, New York Dolls, Eurythmics and Devo have all now been nominated three times.

It’s the second nod for Dionne Warwick and the late Fela Kuti after being nominated in 2021. It’s also Pat Benatar’s second nomination, after first appearing on the 2020 ballot.

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The Rock & Roll Class of 2022 is revealed in May. A date and location for the ceremony itself has yet to be announced but the event will happen sometime this autumn.

Kate Bush
Kate Bush. Image: Getty

Last May Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame CEO Greg Harris defended the lack of heavy metal inductees following the announcement of that year’s shortlist.

Foo Fighters, Jay-Z and Tina Turner all featured in the 2021 cohort of inductees alongside The Go-Go’s, Carole King and Todd Rundgren in the Performers category. Kraftwerk, Gil Scott-Heron and Charley Patton, meanwhile, each received the Early Influence Award.

However, Rage Against The Machine and Iron Maiden – who were confirmed to be in the Rock Hall’s Class Of 2021 last February – were not included in the final list, prompting renewed conversation around the ceremony’s lack of heavy metal acts.

“It’s an interesting one, because we do [celebrate metal],” Harris told Audacy Music during an interview. “We celebrate all forms of rock’n’roll… We nominated Maiden, Judas Priest have been nominated, we put Def Leppard in.”

Harris explained that “over 80 per cent of [nominees] eventually do get inducted” into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

“So it’s really a question of: let’s keep nominating them, let’s get ​’em on the ballot, and let’s get it out to the voting body,” Harris continued. “This ballot had 16 artists on it. They just can’t all go in.”