The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will officially announce its 2021 induction class on Wednesday, May 12th. Future Rock Legends predicts the inductees will be:

1. Jay-Z: Transcendent hip-hop stars have been able to break through with the voting committee in recent years, with Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac getting inducted in the first eligible years. Jay-Z should follow suit and set the stage for next year when Eminem becomes eligible.
2. Tina Turner: There's an opportunity for three people to join the multiple inductees club, and few are more deserving than the Queen of Rock & Roll. Turner is the first choice in the fan vote, and she should easily walk in now that she has finally been nominated for her post-Ike career.
3. Carole King: It's not hyperbole to say that Carole King is one of America's most decorated artists. From Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards to Kennedy Center Honors, King is universally acclaimed. She will now add the honor of being a two-time Rock Hall inductee.
4. Foo Fighters: Speaking of American institutions, Dave Grohl has established himself as the 21st century torch bearer for rock and roll. He likely has half the Rock Hall voters in his phone contacts, so he shouldn't have any difficulty finding support for his band's induction. Grohl would join John Lennon as the only artists to be inducted twice in their first eligible years.
5. The Go-Go's: For years, the Go-Go's have been vocal about their exclusion from the Rock Hall, arguing their exclusion was due to politics and sexism. After their nomination, they've quickly changed their tune and have embraced the honor and heavily promoted the fan vote. They are "all-in" on this year's nomination, so it seems clear they will get inducted on their first nomination after ridiculously having to wait 15 years just to get an opportunity.
6. New York Dolls: On the Who Cares About the Rock Hall? podcast, many of the voters that Joe and Kristen spoke to voiced their immediate support of the New York Dolls. After getting nominated in 2001 and then forgotten for the next 20 years, it took the death of Sylvain Sylvain to get the Nominating Committee's attention again. Voters seem to not want to miss their chance to induct them this time.

Additional Notes:

• Last year's live induction broadcast never came to be, but the Rock Hall planned for just six performer inductees with that in mind, and three were posthumous inductions. Smaller induction classes might be the norm moving forward as television time constraints wag the dog. Over the last couple of decades, the Rock Hall has averaged about 5.5 performer inductees per year.
• The Rock Hall has a pattern of inducting an "Early Influence" artist every three years, with the last being Sister Rosetta Tharpe in 2018. Look for one more to be selected this year.
• With regards to the special categories, the Rock Hall has gradually lost interest in them, averaging over four per year in the early days, to now below two. There are still dozens of worthy candidates that fall into these categories, but the Rock Hall refuses to make it a priority.

• Fela Kuti's strong showing of second place in the Rock Hall's fan vote was a surprise given his limited name recognition in the U.S., but social media promotion from influential Nigerian accounts gave him a massive boost. If they had promoted the fan vote a few more days in the last few weeks, they very likely could have gotten first place.
• Devo's nomination was embraced by the city of Akron and the Goodyear corporation, with both staging promotions for the band.
• There hasn't been an all-FYN (inducted in the first year nominated) class since 2009. FYNs typically make up roughly 60% of inductees.
• If Grohl, King and Turner get inducted, they will join the exclusive list of Multiple Inductees.
• For other perspectives and predictions for the class of 2021, look through our Twitter page where you will find retweets of other Rock Hall experts.
• If you enjoy Future Rock Legends, consider checking out our new site Future Football Legends!

For fourteen years we have been conducting an unofficial poll on this site which requires voters to select five artists on their ballot. The results (after 1680 ballots):

1. Tina Turner 68% (she appeared on 68% of the ballots)
2. Carole King 55%
3. The Go-Go's 50%
4. Iron Maiden 42%
5. Foo Fighters 41%
6. Dionne Warwick 35%
7. Kate Bush 33%
8. Rage Against the Machine 28%
9. Jay-Z 27%
10. Todd Rundgren 26%
11. Chaka Khan 21%
12. LL Cool J 19%
13. Devo 17%
14. New York Dolls 16%
15. Fela Kuti 11%
16. Mary J. Blige 10%