REM, Ronettes Among Nominees

POSTED: 12:30 pm CST October 31, 2006


NEW YORK -- Van Halen is trying to make its biggest "jump" yet -- into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The new class of nine nominees to the hall in Cleveland also includes REM, Chic, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

Van Halen released its first album in 1978, which spawned the hits "You Really Got Me" and "Runnin' With the Devil." The original line-up of the band included singer David Lee Roth, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Michael Anthony.


When Roth left the group, he was replaced by veteran rocker Sammy Hagar for the 1986 album "5150." Hager was briefly replaced with singer Gary Cherone for 1998's "Van Halen III," but joined the group again after, among other things, a solo tour co-headlined by Roth.

A panel of 500 industry experts will select five acts to be inducted at the annual ceremony next March in New York City.

The other nominees are: Patti Smith, the punk rock poet who recently presided over the closing of New York's legendary CBGB nightclub; British invaders the Dave Clark Five; Phil Spector favorites the Ronettes; soul singer Joe Tex; and the Stooges, famed for being the early home of Iggy Pop.

To be eligible, artists must have issued a first single or album at least 25 years before nomination.