Foo Fighters, The Go-Gos, & Tina Turner Lead 2021 Rock Hall Nominees

The votes are in for the 36th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This year's “Performer Category” will include Foo Fighters, the Go-Go's, Tina Turner, Todd Rundgren, Carole King, and Jay-Z.

The 2021 Musical Excellence Award will be given to LL Cool J, Billy Preston, and guitarist Randy Rhoads. This year's Early Influence Award inductees are Kraftwerk, Gil Scott Heron, and Charley Patton.

The 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Saturday, October 30th at 8 p.m. ET at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio — with a radio simulcast on SiriusXM’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Radio channel 310. The Induction Ceremony will be broadcast on HBO and streamed on HBO Max at a later date.

Among the artists on the 2021 Rock Hall shortlist that didn't make the final pick were Devo, Iron Maiden, Dionne Warwick, Chaka Khan, Mary J. Blige, Kate Bush, Fela Kuti, New York Dolls, and Rage Against The Machine.

Foo Fighters poked fun of the fact that its guitarist, Pat Smear, an L.A. punk legend is entering the Hall, tweeting, “Holy s***! The guitar player from The Germs is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!!!”

Tina Turner tweeted: “I am absolutely thrilled to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame amongst such amazing artists! Thank you for all your continued love and support over the years! Love, Tina”

Todd Rundgren, who's gone on record over the years about his disdain for the Rock Hall, said in a statement, quote, “I’m happy for my fans. They’ve wanted this for a long time.”

We caught up with Go-Go's lead guitarist and “We Got The Beat” songwriter Charlotte Caffey, who shared her emotions at getting the nod at long last from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: “I feel like we were underdogs in the beginning and our record bust through to Number One, and we have always been underdogs. And we were underdogs with the Rock Hall, as well for years. And it just feels really, really good, and we're celebrating ourselves and all other women, and it's a great feeling.”

Taylor Hawkins told us a while back that above all else, Foos leader and driving creative force Dave Grohl has always been a man of character: “Dave's a good guy. He's one of the good guys, y'know? He's not one of the f***in' a******s, so people like him, as they should. Y'know? He's one of the good guys.”

Legendary photographer Norman Seeff recalled to us one of his more memorable shoots featuring the great Tina Turner: “Tina Turner walked in and she stepped up on — we built a little stage — and within one second, I said to her. . . and I'm playing her music, y'know — 'Would you like the music louder?' And she's saying, 'No, fine!' And she starts to sing and it's the Tina Turner delivery. And the whole session became, 'Can I keep up with the power of this woman?' And the thing about shooting is that you ride that wave. You ride that current emotionally. And there are moments when, y'know, there's like a peak in energy, it's like a waveform. And I was firing and firing and firing.”

A while back, Todd Rundgren told us that summing up his career isn't something he's comfortable with and is really a job best-suited for others: “It's a little bit difficult to see yourself — particularly having gone thorough all the changes I have — of being able to be summed up in that sense. I can get perspective on part of what I'm doing, but I can never get perspective on all of what I'm doing. And part of what I'm doing is trying to avoid repeating myself.”

Ozzy Osbourne told us a while back that he couldn't believe his eyes and ears when he first met the late, great guitarist, Randy Rhoads: “I was very drunk in an apartment, and this little skinny little guy came into my apartment, and I thought I was hallucinating at first. And then when I heard him play, I was convinced I was hallucinating. He played with such grace and ease that it was, like, effortless.”

Despite writing some of the most meorable songs in rock history — Carole King admitted that she's never felt that performing could ever be considered her strong suit: “I always had confidence that when I played music it touched people in some way. And the place that I didn't have confidence was as a performer.”

George Harrison discussed the importance of Billy Preston joining the Beatles' 1969 Let It Be sessions: “I put a message out to find if Billy was in town and told him to come in to Saville Row, which he did. Straight away it just became a hundred percent improvement in the vibe in the room. And everybody was happier also to have somebody playing in the band.”

As a businessman and husband as well as a rap star, Jay-Z says it can be tough to be seen as a role model but he tries to keep his life balanced. A while back he explained: “I can't box myself in. I just got to live my life and hopefully I do more good than bad.”