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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 will be honored during an HBO special on November 7th. The attention will turn to 2021, once it airs. This will be an unprecedented year for the Rock Hall of Fame.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live Induction Ceremony

It will mark the first time a live induction ceremony takes place in November in Cleveland if the COVID-19 pandemic lets up. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation has confirmed to cleveland.com that its Nominating Committee will officially meet in early 2021. The Foundation handles the inductions out of New York. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum first said this back in July, but then changed the dates.

The next ballot will be made and revealed the same year the selected artists are inducted. Generally, the committee meets in the fall. Then creating a ballot for the class that will be inducted the next spring. For example, the Rock Hall’s Nominating Committee met in fall 2019. Then they created the ballot for the Class of 2020.

Moving the Ceremony Complicated Things

But moving the ceremony to November complicates things. An artist is eligible 25 years after releasing its first official release. Some fans have wondered if the Nominating Committee meeting in early 2021, will think about newly eligible acts that started their career in 1995 and 1996. The answer is no.

The foundation affirmed years won’t be combined. In the next year, artists will be first eligible. This is after the current class was eligible. The 2021 class will be eligible if their first commercial release was no later than 1991. This year’s class will be eligible if their first commercial release was no later than 1994.

Distinction Makes a Difference

The distinction is important especially this year. Artists like Jay-Z and Foo Fighters released their first recordings in 1995. Therefore, both acts are probable to make the ballot for the Class of 2021. However, if the Nominating Committee were to also taken into consideration artists whose first commercial release came out in 1996, it would bring acts like Eminem and Fiona Apple into the fore. As it is now, Slim Shady has to wait until 2022.