The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its Class of 2015, with Green Day, Joan Jett and Lou Reed leading the pack.

All up, eight bands and artists are being recognised by the Hall of Fame. The list of inductees features Green Day, Lou Reed, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Bill Withers, and Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

Ringo Starr will be given the Award For Musical Excellence, the final member of The Beatles to be recognised for solo work (The Beatles were inducted as a group in 1988). 1950s R&B group The “5” Royales will receive the Early Influence Award.

The process for being inducted into the Hall of Fame features a voting body of over 600 members of the music industry, and takes into consideration “the influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll”.

Green Day are being inducted into the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Artists become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record. Green Day’s 1000 Hours EP was released in 1989. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told Rolling Stone, “I had to go for a walk when I heard the news … 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.”

Lou Read and Stevie Ray Vaughan will both be inducted into the Hall of Fame posthumously, with Reed passing away earlier this year. Vaughan’s backing band The Double Trouble will also be inducted, and will be there to accept the award on his behalf.

The induction ceremony takes place on Saturday April 18 at Cleveland’s Public Hall. Tickets are open to the general public, and the ceremony typically features performances from high-profile musicians, as well as the inductees themselves.

Inductee Bill Withers hasn’t ruled out the possibility of performing, despite being all but absent from the stage for the past few decades. “There are some people that can sing in their later years and some of them that can’t,” he told Rolling Stone. “I don’t want to be one of those old guys that sounds like a gerbil trying to give birth to a hippopotamus. I’ve gotta see if I can’t conjure it up.

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