Let the bitching begin!

NEW YORK — Long ago, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts professed their love for rock 'n' roll. It's time to see if the feeling runs both ways.

The iconic rock act is on the list of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees for the 2012 class released Tuesday. Women who rock feature prominently among first-time nominees. Joining Jett, whose "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" remains a classic rock standard 30 years after its release, are sister act Heart and Rufus with Chaka Khan.

They're joined by Guns 'N Roses, hip-hop pioneers Eric B. & Rakim, glum glam Goths The Cure and The Small Faces/The Faces, which includes Rod Stewart. Bluesman Freddie King and The Spinners are also first-time nominees on the ballot for the hall's 2012 class.

Previous nominees up again include The Beastie Boys, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Donna Summer, Laura Nyro, Donovan and War and its an eclectic group, running from lush British folk to classic early beats and bone-crushing power rock.

An act must have released its first single or album 25 years ago to qualify for induction. More than 500 voters will determine who makes the hall. New members will be inducted at a ceremony at the hall of fame in Cleveland on April 14.

The leather-clad and tough-as-nails Jett was an early icon for women. A founding member of the all-female The Runaways, she went on to become a chart-topping success after forming the Blackhearts in 1982.

Heart similarly made an indelible mark on the rock scene of the 1970s and '80s. Among the first women to front an aggressive rock band, singer Ann Wilson and her sister, guitarist Nancy Wilson, cut some of the era's most memorable songs, from "Barracuda" to "Magic Man," and inspired a generation of women along the way.

Then a teen, Khan burst on the seen with the Chicago-based Rufus in the 1970s. She defied easy categorization, moving easily between R&B, rock and disco before going onto an enviable solo career.

I'll be first

No Rush????

They really are being dicks about this.

The Small Faces/Faces nomination is longgggg overdue.

The Small Faces.

No Rush, No KISS.

Will GnR get in purely because of one album? I'm sure it has happened before.

Hopefully The Cure makes it.

i'm sure they had 3 good ones

Sex Pistols

Time for this annual joke again?

This is worse than April Fools Day.

I like early hip-hop...but Eric B? Seriously?

Well if GnR wins, it will be an awkward acceptance at least.

Be funny if they had all the members of Axl's crew and the original band and it broke out in a giant melee on stage to the tune of Welcome to the Jungle.

No shit. How incredibly stupid is that nomination?

Especially considering that bands that have had huge impacts on Rock like Rush, KISS, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, etc, aren't nominated.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame continues to be a sad, pathetic joke. One that, unfortunately, the mainstream media buys into and props up as the pinnacle of any band's career.

Look, Eric B was fine for what he did, but even within the Rap/Hip Hop genre he wasn't a huge leading force. That nomination really gets the big WTF???

And Joan Jett? Really? She made her career on cover songs. And she only had a couple legit hit albums. I love Joan and her musical attitude, but come on!

Jan Wenner's got his hate on for KISS and Rush (and anything legitimately Metal that isn't Metallica).

Huh? Eric B and Rakim are considered one of the most influential and innovative groups in hip hop history and Rakim is generally regarded as the greatest rapper ever. I know it's easy to single out the rap nominees when rock bands you want to see in there are not nominated but they are worthy nominees.

Question for anyone who watches or follows these shows. What band was it that got into the hall of fame within the past 10 years who had some of the original members there, but had the current members only playing at the concert and the originals werent asked to play?

I like RHCP the best out of the bands nominated.

Makes me wonder how nominees will be twenty years from now. Are they still going to nominate rock bands or open it up to acts like Coldplay and Lady Gaga?

Blondie
Elvis Costello & The Attractions

For the Rap hall of fame.

This whole thing is a joke. You don't see The Eagles in the Country Hall of Fame. You don't see Chicago in the Jazz Hall of Fame.

But somehow people from practically every other popular genre are in the Rock HOF - before a lot of deserving ROCK artists.

1987 was also the year of Public Enemy's first album. I think I'd put them in before Eric B. and Rakim.

1986 was the cutoff point for this class (GN'R's EP counts as their first recording). PE will be on the ballot next year.

I can think of about 100 artists that belong before this 2 or 3 hit nostalgia act. She has virtually no classic albums. The female Billy Idol.

Blondie was who I was thinking of thanks!

We all have different opinions and I happen to think she damn well deserves to be on the list.

For what? Being a chick?

Like I said, if she was a guy, she'd be Billy Idol. To me, her list of classic songs is about 1 deep.

F Blondie. Did not know that about Elvis Costello. Would like to see it.

Billy Idol has done more with his original music than Joan Jett has.

I love Joan Jett. I love her musical attitude, and I love her persona. I just don't think she's anywhere near deserving of a nomination - especially when there are so many deserving bands/artists who didn't get nominated.

Hell, I forgot to mention Deep Purple before! Talk about iconic! Talk about influential! They are one of the giants when it comes to impact on the bands that followed. And they don't even rate a nomination?

Give me a break.