Congrats, Billie Joe; congrats, Trent; congrats, Morrissey. And congrats to your band members, and to everyone, because today is Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations day! A 25-year period needs to have passed for acts to gain eligibility, and Green Day and Nine Inch Nails are this year’s two bands being nominated as soon as they became nominate-able. NIN’s debut album, “Pretty Hate Machine,” hit shelves in October of 1989; Green Day’s first EP, “1,000 Hours,” hit in April of the same year. The rest of this the 2015 class’s first-time nominees are the Smiths, Sting, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bill Withers. (Sting is already in the Rock Hall with the Police, but this is for his solo work.)
The repeat nominees are N.W.A. (they were on last year’s nominee list), Lou Reed (he’s in the Hall with 
the Velvet Underground), Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Kraftwerk, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band (nominated in 2013), Chic (another 2013 nom), The Marvelettes, The Spinners, and War. This is the third year fans have the opportunity to vote online, on Rolling Stone’s website, until Dec. 9. The induction ceremony will take place April 18, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. Earlier this year, Nirvana, Kiss, Linda Ronstadt, Hall & Oates, Peter Gabriel, and Cat Stevens were inducted. The E Street Band was celebrated with the Award for Musical Excellence, and Brian Epstein and Andrew Loog Oldham — onetime managers for the Beatles and the Stones, respectively — received the Ahmet Ertegun Award, which goes to non-musician figures.
