Run-DMC nominated for Hall of Fame

Eighties rappers Run-DMC could ’Walk This Way’ into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The rappers, along with Metallica and the Stooges, are among the nine nominees for next year’s hall of fame class, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced.

The other nominees are guitarist Jeff Beck, singer Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, War, Bobby Womack, and disco group Chic.

The list is notable for the wide range of musical genres represented – hip-hop, metal, punk and disco – and the large number of first-time candidates. Only Chic, the Stooges and Jackson have been previously nominated.

“It’s an interesting group because it really shows the nominating committee showed some thought and energy into who should be inducted,” said Joel Peresman, president of the New York City-based Rock Hall foundation. “It truly shows it’s never a closed door for any artist to be nominated.”

The five leading vote-getters will be announced in January and inducted April 4, 2009, in Cleveland.

The ceremony typically has been held in New York but is returning to Cleveland after more than a decade-long absence. Tickets will be made available to the public for the first time.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five opened the door for rap at the Rock Hall as the first hip-hop act to be inducted in 2007.

Now, Run-DMC, nominated in the first year of its eligibility, can follow on the strength of rock and rap blends such as the 1986 cover of Aerosmith’s Walk This Way and classics like It’s Tricky and My Adidas.

“The big thing they did is took hip-hop more into the mainstream,” said Jim Henke, chief curator of the hall of fame.