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Don’t stop believin’: Journey, Pearl Jam, Tupac Shakur, Electric Light Orchestra, Yes and Joan Baez are the 2017 performer inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.Veteran musician and producer Nile Rodgers will receive the hall’s Award for Musical Excellence. The Cleveland-based hall’s 32nd annual induction ceremony is set for April 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. HBO will air a special derived from the ceremony later in the year.
The 2017 selections were chosen by more than 900 music industry voters in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists become eligible for the hall 25 years after the release of their first recordings. The pool of 19 nominees for 2017 induction included such notables as Depeche Mode, Jane’s Addiction, Bad Brains, Janet Jackson and the Cars.
The five artists who receive the most votes make the cut for induction. In addition to the industry insiders, the hall solicits online votes by the public that are factored into the overall tally. On the “fan’s ballot,” the top vote-getters were Journey, Electric Light Orchestra, Yes and Pearl Jam. The fifth highest-polling act among the public, the Cars, was not selected this time around.
Journey got its start in the early 1970s in the San Francisco area. The band’s biggest 1980s hits remain rock radio staples, among them “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Who’s Crying Now” and “Open Arms.”
Pearl Jam emerged from the Seattle’s grunge scene in the early 1990s. Britain’s Electric Light Orchestra, led by Jeff Lynne, scored a string of pop hits in the 1970s. Yes ranks among the most enduring of England’s 1970s progressive rock outfits.
Prolific rapper Tupac Shakur has exerted outsized influence on hip-hop culture since he was murdered in 1996 at the age of 25. Joan Baez is a veteran folk musician and activist who gain fame in part through her early association with Bob Dylan.
Rodgers, a founder of the disco-era hitmakers Chic, had two big hits recently in collaboration with Pharrell Williams: Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” Chic was also on the list of nominees for 2017 induction
Source : http://variety.com/2016/biz/news/journey-pearl-jam-tupac-shakur-yes-electric-light-orchestra-among-2017-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-inductees-1201945693/