RHOF Class of '21: Clarence "Black Godfather" Avant Gets in; Tina Turner, Foo Fighters, Jay-Z and LL Also Make It

The class of 2021,

announced this morning, is a big one by Rock Hall standards: 12 artists and one musical godfather, half chosen by the Hall's voting membership and half by special committees that were unusually busy this year. You'd have to go back to 2000, when the Hall inducted its first five sidemen, or 2012, a big year for inducting entire backing groups, to find a comparably large class. There are holes to be patched and oversights to be corrected and the work, it seems, has begun. A co-ed, cross-genre Rock Hall infrastructure package. Then again, to paraphrase non-Hall of Famer KAREN CARPENTER, that work has only just begun. So much still to be done, and to be discussed. But first, some names. TINA TURNER, JAY-Z, CAROLE KING, TODD RUNDGREN, FOO FIGHTERS and the Go-Go's: Cleveland, along with the Hall's 1,000 or so voters, says hello. Also on their way in: LL Cool J, BILLY PRESTON and RANDY RHOADS, all cited separately for Musical Excellence. (Holy s***, did I just type "Randy Rhoads"? Yes I did. More below.) And KRAFTWERK, GIL SCOTT-HERON and CHARLEY PATTON, as Early Influences. Plus CLARENCE AVANT, aka the BLACK GODFATHER, manager, producer, executive, civil rights leader and mentor to decades of artists and music bizzers. He's this year's recipient of the AHMET ERTEGUN Award.