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Rush fans, your long-standing tradition of writing angry letters to music magazines may finally be coming to an end.

The Canadian prog icons are among the 15 nominees for the 2013 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They join Donna Summer, Public Enemy, Procol Harum, N.W.A, Randy Newman, the Meters, Kraftwerk, Albert King, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, the Marvelettes, Heart, Chic, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Deep Purple on the ballot. The names have been sent out to the mysterious cabal who votes for this thing, and the new class will be inducted at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre on April 18, 2013. For the first time ever, there will also be a fan ballot, which will allow those aforementioned Rush fans to shout about conspiracy theories in case their boys don’t make it in.

All told, that’s a pretty unusual collection of names, as there doesn’t seem to be any one artist who stands out as a slam dunk. Sure, plenty of those names made some great music, but there’s not an obvious legend among them around whom the ceremony can be built. For example, last year’s ballot included Guns N’ Roses and Beastie Boys, two canonical acts who were pretty clear inclusions.

This year’s batch will be an interesting referendum on how the voters feel about two groups who are deeply under-represented within the walls of the Hall of Fame: rappers and women. READ FULL STORY »