Green Day among Rock Hall nominees

The nominees for the new class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced Thursday. Among them: Green Day, which started out as some East Bay punks, mocking the world on such 1990s albums as "Dookie" and "Insomniac." By the 2000s the band had deepened, putting out the best-selling rock opera "American Idiot" and helping to turn it into a Broadway show.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts hit the big time with 1981's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll."

The smooth-voiced Bill Withers broke out with the hit single "Ain't No Sunshine" in 1971 and the classic album "Still Bill" the next year, with such hits as "Lean on Me" and "Use Me."

The legendary Spinners had their biggest hits with such songs as "I'll Be Around" and "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love," many produced by Thom Bell.

The Smiths, led by vocalist Morrissey (second from left) and guitarist Johnny Marr (third from left), combined Morrissey's mordant lyrics with Marr's jangly guitar to produce such songs as "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "Shoplifters of the World Unite."

The Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band took rock 'n' roll back to its roots while adding elements of jazz and psychedelia, particularly in its landmark 1966 album, "East-West."

N.W.A. were pioneers of West Coast gangsta rap. Its members included Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, and the group's albums -- notably 1988's "Straight Outta Compton" -- are considered classics.

The Southern California hit-makers War featured a funky, bluesy sound that infused such albums as "The World Is a Ghetto" and "All Day Music" and long-lived singles like "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?"

Kraftwerk's synthesized sound first gained wide renown with 1974's "Autobahn," an electronic evocation of a ride down a German highway. Other notable works include "Trans-Europe Express" and "Computer World."

Chic, whose hits include "Le Freak" and "Good Times," helped define late-'70s dance music.

Texas bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan entered the pantheon of guitar heroes with such albums as "Texas Flood" and "Couldn't Stand the Weather."

Lou Reed's band, the Velvet Underground, was inducted into the Hall in 1996. As a soloist, Reed's works include the song "Walk on the Wild Side" and the album "The Blue Mask."

Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor's grim, industrial sound appears on such best-selling albums as "Pretty Hate Machine" and "The Downward Spiral." In recent years, Reznor has turned to composing for David Fincher's movies, including the just-released "Gone Girl."

Sting first broke through as a member of the Police (inducted in 2003). As a solo artist, his albums include "The Dream of the Blue Turtles" and "The Soul Cages." His musical, "The Last Ship," is scheduled to premiere on Broadway on October 26.

The Marvelettes had hits with "Please Mr. Postman" (Motown's first No. 1 song), "Beechwood 4-5789" and "Don't Mess with Bill."

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• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its 2015 nominees


• 15 acts are up for induction, including first-year-eligible Nine Inch Nails and Green Day


• The Smiths, Bill Withers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sting are on the ballot for the first time


• Inductees will be announced in December

(CNN) -- The next class inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame could include punk rockers Green Day, the influential Nine Inch Nails and seminal rap group N.W.A.

Those are just three of the 15 acts that are nominated for induction into the institution in 2015.

Others include Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; Lou Reed; The Smiths; The Spinners; Sting; Chic; Kraftwerk; The Marvelettes; Bill Withers; War; Stevie Ray Vaughan; and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

In order to be eligible for nomination, a music act had to release its first recording in 1989 or earlier. According to Billboard, that means Green Day and Nine Inch Nails are up for induction in their first year of eligibility. Nine Inch Nails' first album, "Pretty Hate Machine," marks its 25th anniversary this month, and Green Day's EP "1,000 Hours" dropped in April 1989.

The Smiths, Withers, Vaughan and Sting are newcomers to the ballot as well. (Sting was previously inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame as a member of Police but is now up for induction as a solo artist.)

This eclectic group of 2015 nominees "represent the myriad places where rock and roll converges with blues, electronic, dance, Motown, R&B, funk and other genres," Joel Peresman, the head of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. "Rock and roll incorporates the styles of so many different kinds of music and that's what makes this group of nominees -- and this art form -- so powerful and unique."

For the third year, fans will get their say in which acts they think should be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by voting on Rolling Stone's website or at RockHall.com.

The 2015 class of inductees will be announced in December, followed by an induction ceremony in April 2015.

The 2014 Rock Hall class included Cat Stevens, Nirvana, KISS, Hall & Oates, Linda Ronstadt and Peter Gabriel.

What do you think of the final list of nominees? Tell us in the comments who would get your vote.