Rock Hall Of Fame Finalists Announced

09/23/08 12:30pm

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

Nine wide-ranging contenders are vying for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Metallica, The Stooges, Run-DMC, Wanda Jackson, Jeff Beck, Little Anthony And The Imperials, War, Bobby Womack and Chic are this year's finalists for the honour. The Stooges, Jackson and Chic are the only previous nominees, while eligible first-time nominees who didn't make the cut include Bon Jovi and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Artists must have released their first single or album 25 years earlier to be considered.

The five acts with the most votes will be announced in January and the induction ceremony will return to the hall in Cleveland for the first time in more than a decade on April 4. More than 500 musicians, music industry executives and journalists cast ballots to decide who gains entry.

Metallica are one of the most successful metal bands of all time and are still riding high with this month's release of Death Magnetic.

The Iggy Pop-fronted Stooges were forefathers of both punk and heavy metal when they exploded onto the scene in the late '60s and have reformed in the past few years to record the pretty terrible The Weirdness. But they can still bring it on stage.

The pioneering Jackson, called both the "First Lady Of Rock 'N' Roll" and the "Queen Of Rockabilly," released a string of great songs in the '50s, dated Elvis Presley and continues to play entertaining shows at age 70.

Run-DMC helped introduce hip-hop to the mainstream in the '80s and were leaders in blending the genre with rock on their 1986 cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."

Songwriter/producers Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were the brains behind Chic, who created some of the most stylish sounds of the late '70s disco era. Edwards died of pneumonia while on tour in 1996.

War first became known as Eric Burdon's soulful backing band and had a hit with "Spill The Wine" before the former Animals frontman left. The group continued and had big hits with the funky "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?"

Beck is already a RRHOF member after being inducted in 1992 with The Yardbirds, but the influential guitarist has also had success with the Jeff Beck Group, as a solo artist, a session musician and with Beck, Bogert & Appice.

Womack was part of the Womack Brothers and made a name for himself as a solo artist, session guitarist and songwriter.

Little Anthony And The Imperials had '50s hits with "Tears On My Pillow" and "Shimmy, Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop," but should probably be considered long shots for induction.