Jay-z, Iron Maiden earn 2021 Rock Hall noms
Particulate matter cited in cardiac, pulmonary issues
Rock Hall nominations are here, and they’re more eclectic than ever.
On Wednesday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the 16 artists eligible for induction in 2021, led by Jay-z, Iron Maiden and Foo Fighters.
Most notably, it’s the most femaleheavy ballot in the organization’s more than 30-year history. Seven women are up for induction, including Carole King (as a performer), Mary J. Blige, Chaka Khan, Kate Bush, Dionne Warwick, Tina Turner and The Go-go’s.
It’s long overdue for the overwhelmingly male Rock Hall. According to an analysis early last year by Evelyn Mcdonnell of Loyola Marymount University,
less than 8% of the artists inducted are women. The 2020 nominees featured only three women: Khan, Whitney Houston and Pat Benatar, of whom only Houston was inducted.
Recent inductees have spoken out about the Rock Hall’s lack of inclusion. Shortly after his 2016 induction, Steve Miller railed against the hall in a candid interview with Rolling Stone, calling it a “private boys’ club.” Janet Jackson ended her 2019 speech by saying “induct more women.” And Stevie Nicks, the only woman inducted twice as both a solo artist and member of Fleetwood Mac, said at the 2019 ceremony, “What I am doing is opening up the door for other women to go, like, ‘Hey man, I can do it.’ “
If chosen for the 2021 class, King and
Turner will become the second and third female artists inducted twice, following Nicks’ 2019 election. King was previously inducted in 1990 with songwriting partner Gerry Goffin, while Turner was inducted in 1991 as one half of musical duo Ike & Tina Turner.
Along with recognizing more women, the 2021 nominations are also the most racially diverse they’ve been since 1996, according to the Rock Hall. Nine of the 16 nominees feature artists of color, including Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, rock band Rage Against the Machine, and rappers Jay-z and LL Cool J.
Jay-z is up for induction his first year eligible for the honor. Artists become eligible 25 years after the release of their first album, EP or single; Jay-z released his debut album, “Reasonable Doubt,” in 1996.
The nominees for the 2021 class are rounded out by Devo, Todd Rundgren and The New York Dolls. If Foo Fighters are inducted this year, Dave Grohl will also become a twice-inducted performer, after Nirvana was welcomed into the Rock Hall in 2014.
Rock Hall inductees are chosen by an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians and members of the music industry. Through April 30, fans can cast their votes on rockhall.com for who they think should be elected. The top five artists in that vote make up a fans’ ballot, which is counted as a single vote alongside the 1,000-plus other ballots.
Inductees will be announced in May 2021.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Two men and a woman who said they were stranded on a deserted island for 33 days were rescued after they waved flags to get the attention of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew as it flew over while on a routine mission off the Florida Keys, the agency said.
“We were alerted to them by the flags that they actually had in addition to a large cross that they put out there for themselves,” helicopter pilot Mike Allert told WPLG.
Allert said he decided to fly back around Anguilla Cay to investigate and a crew returned to the island later Monday to drop water, food and a radio.
The stranded people were an uninhabited Bahamian island between Key West and Cuba, the agency posted on Twitter.
A helicopter crew returned Tuesday to pick them up.
Coast Guard officials tweeted that the trio was from Cuba. They told officials their boat had capsized in rough waters and they were able to swim to the island.
The stranded people told the crew they had survived on coconuts, conchs and rats, news outlets reported.
It was not immediately clear if they were migrants attempting to come to the U.S., or if they were just lost at sea, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Murray told the South Florida Sunsentinel.
They were taken to the Lower Keys Medical Center, where none appeared to have serious injuries.
“I cannot recall a time that we saved people who were stranded for over a month on an island,” he told the newspaper. “That is a new one for me.”
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – New research from Harvard University and several colleges in the United Kingdom found that pollution from burning fossil fuels could be blamed for 8.7 million premature deaths in 2018, about onefifth of all deaths that year.
China and India – the most populous countries in the world as well as two of the top coal-burners – accounted for roughly half of all excess deaths identified in the study. The eastern U.S. and several other regions around the world, including Europe and Southeast Asia, also had high levels. The majority of U.S. coal-fired power plants that are operational and not slated for retirement are in the eastern half of the nation.
The report focused on PM2.5, fine particulate matter that can get deep into the lungs and cause cardiac and pulmonary issues. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PM2.5 exposure has been linked to asthma, an irregular heartbeat, heart attacks and death. While the research did not estimate specific causes of death, it cited research on PM2.5’S impacts, including how it disproportionately hurts children’s health via issues such as respiratory infections.
The study also did not quantify how many years fossil fuel pollution would take off an average person’s life, although other recent research estimated that all types of PM2.5 pollution caused the loss of 103.1 million life-years globally in 2015.
Thousands of the deaths the study
highlighted came from California, where the oil and gas industry has been shrinking since the 1980s, although it still remains one of the country’s largest producers. California also extended the life of four natural gas power plants in 2020 due to concerns over electricity blackouts.
Millions of Californians live near oil and gas wells and refineries, which can leak dangerous pollutants. Black, Latino and low-income people are the most likely to live adjacent to the wells.
While it has historically been difficult to differentiate between various sources of PM2.5 in similar studies, this team relied on a “global 3-D model of atmospheric chemistry” to isolate emissions originating locally from burning fossil fuels.
“Our study adds to the mounting evidence that air pollution from ongoing dependence on fossil fuels is detrimental to global health,” said Eloise Marais, an associate professor in the department of geography at University College London and one of the report’s co-authors. “We can’t in good conscience continue to rely on fossil fuels, when we know that there are such severe effects on health and viable, cleaner alternatives.”
The research team shared data that broke out the mortality figures at a state-by-state level across the U.S. Topping the list of the states hit hardest per capita were those in the Rust Belt, where coal has historically been king.
Pennsylvania experienced the worst outcomes, with 195 excess deaths per 100,000 people. Next were Ohio with 188, Michigan with 177, Indiana with 176, Kentucky with 169 and West Virginia with 158.
California, which has committed to going carbon neutral by 2045, was in the lower half of per capita premature deaths. Still, the researchers estimated that slightly more than 34,000 Californians died prematurely due to the pollution, which came out to about 86 deaths per 100,000 people in the country’s most populous state.
The California oil industry argued that shutting down U.S. fossil fuels too quickly would be dangerous, as domestic energy sources were cleaner than the alternatives coming from countries with laxer environmental laws.
Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association, said the report didn’t mention California specifically, “likely because the state has the toughest regulations on the planet to protect air quality.”
He added: “Continuing to meet the state’s vast energy needs with locally produced energy is better for our environment and our economy.”
Kevin Slagle, spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Association, agreed that a transition away shouldn’t be rushed: “There is a path to an energy future that is equitable, reliable, affordable and safe – but not without oil and gas.”
The research team used the study as a call to action to move on from burning hydrocarbons.
“Fossil fuel combustion can be more readily controlled than other sources and precursors of PM2.5 such as dust or wildfire smoke, so this is a clear message to policymakers and stakeholders to further incentivize a shift to clean sources of energy,” the team wrote.