Getty ImagesThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame didn't exactly take a walk on the wild side with its picks for the incoming class. But an eclectic group has been voted in nonetheless.
Lou Reed, who died in October 2013, heads up the list of 2015 inductees, which also includes Green Day, Ringo Starr, Bill Withers, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and, posthumously, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Reed was previously inducted as a member of the Velvet Underground in 1996.
1950s R&B group The "5" Royales are getting the Early Influence Award. Starr will receive the Award for Musical Excellence, and now all four Beatles will be in the Hall individually as well as part of the band.
"This means recognition to me," Starr told Rolling Stone. "And it means, finally, the four of us are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame even though we were the biggest pop group in the land. You know that won't look funny in black and white." The artist who as the Fab Four's drummer was often called "the heart beat of the Beatles" said that he wouldn't be putting a band together specifically for the night of the Rock Hall ceremony, "but if Paul puts one together, I'll do 'With a Little Help From My Friends.'"
Hear that, Paul McCartney? Your services have been requested.
"Playing 'I Love Rock and Roll' would be a lot of fun," Jett told RS, also speaking to the mag about her selection. "It would speak to what a lot of us have dedicated our lives to, this music called rock & roll. I think it would be appropriate. I've always sort of kept that song away, but I think in this instance it would be a perfect instance to whip it out and have people do it."
"I had to go for a walk when I heard the news," Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong said. "We're in incredible company and I'm still trying to make sense of this. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has always held something special for me because my heroes were in there. This is a great time for us to sort of reflect and look back with gratitude."
And if Green Day seem a little too "young" for Hall of Fame status...you've probably got a 20-year high school reunion coming up. The American Idiot rockers released their first EP, 1,000 Hours, in 1989. Artists are elligible for admittance 25 years after the release of their first album of single.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2015 induction ceremony is scheduled for April 18 at Cleveland's Public Hall. Tickets for the hoi polloi go on sale Thursday.