2014 Rock Hall Of Fame Nominees: Chic, Kiss, Nirvana, Ronstadt, Hall & Oates

The list of 2014 nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame was announced today. On the list for the eighth time are disco legends Chic, who remain fronted by mega-producer Nile Rodgers (Madonna, David Bowie, Duran Duran.) I took the photo above at Chic’s free show at Lincoln Center last summer.

“Teen Spirit” and “Good Times” may be coming to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — sealed with a KISS. Grunge groundbreakers Nirvana, disco dynamos Chic and the costume-clad, Gene Simmons-led pop metal band KISS are among 16 nominees up for election in the museum’s Class of 2014. The deep selection also includes ’70s and ’80s hitmakers Hall and Oates; college radio heroes the Replacements; New Orleans funkmeisters the Meters; sweet-voiced Linda Ronstadt; and pioneering gangsta rappers N.W.A. Completing the list: the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, LL Cool J, Cat Stevens, Link Wray, Yes and the Zombies. The list spans more than six decades of rock and pop history and includes both major pop successes — Chic, Hall and Oates, Gabriel, Ronstadt and Yes all hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart — and influential players.

Artists become eligible 25 years after their first US release.

NOTE: There may some controversy about the nomination of Cat Stevens, who in 1977 converted to Islam, changed his name to Yusaf Islam, and who (some claim) supported the fatwa calling for the execution of Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie. He has, however, won several major awards for promoting peace.

RELATED: Donna Summer was inducted earlier this year after five consecutive nominations. I took the photos below at the Rock Hall Of Fame when I was in Cleveland a couple of weeks ago. That’s the waitress costume Summer wore for the She Works Hard For The Money video. To the right is a copy of one of her early fan club newsletters, which was titled Rumor Has It, after her hit single from 1977’s Once Upon A Time.