Last week, when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its list of 16 nominees eligible for induction this year, many people scratched their heads when they heard the nameFela Kuti.
Some fans of the late Cream drummer Ginger Baker might know who he is, as he recorded with the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and Afrobeat pioneer in the '70s.
Many people in America might not have known who Fela was a week ago, but they do now, since he's leading the Rock Hall Fan Vote with over 132,000 votes in less than a week.
We checked with Rock Hall CEO Greg Harris to see if there was a glitch in the system and he told us, "When we saw it blow-up we wondered the same, but somehow you can see the geographic distribution of the votes and it was clear he's crushing it because his global fans, especially in Nigeria, are all jumping in. A few very popular contemporary Nigerian artists, such as Burna Boy, shared it with their massive social media followers and asked them to vote. It’s pretty cool and a great reminder that rock and roll is global."
Following Fela in the Fan Vote are:
- 2) Tina Turner- 99,000
- 3) Foo Fighters- 74,000
- 4) Iron Maiden- 60,000
- 5) Carole King- 59,000
- 6) The Go-Go's- 55,000
- 7) Dionne Warwick- 44,000
- 8) Rage Against the Machine- 43,000
- 9) Chaka Khan- 43,000
- 10) Devo- 38,000
- 11) Todd Rundgren- 38,000
- 12) Mary J. Blige- 37,000
- 13) Jay-Z- 33,000
- 14) LL Cool J- 31,000
- 15) New York Dolls- 26,000
- 16) Kate Bush- 25,000
The Fan Vote is open through April 30th, and the Class of 2021 will be announced in May with the induction ceremony to be held at the end of the year in Cleveland.
Fans of Paul McCartney may also be familiar with Fela, who accused Paul of trying to exploit and steal African music when he took Wings to Lagos, Nigeria in 1973 to record the Band on the Run album. Fela threatened to shut down the sessions, but Ginger Baker interceded.