Fela Soars Above Tina Turner, 14 Others in Dramatic Bid for Rock Hall of Fame

Kay Kehinde/

In less than 24 hours, Nigeria’s Afrobeat King, the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, has leapt from the bottom to sit atop 15 other iconic musicians competing for a place in the top five of the 2021 Rock Hall of Fame.

Late yesterday, Fela was at the bottom of the ladder with 2240 votes while Tina Turner was leading with 21,883 votes.

But the game changed today with Fela making a meteoric rise to Number One position with over 80,000 votes after his campaign was gingered by a die-hard fan and veteran journalist – Ogbeni Olagoke Odeyinka and Burna Boy among others.

The top five artists, as selected by the public will comprise a “fans ballot” that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2021 inductees.

Fans were requested to visit vote.rockhall.com to cast a ballot daily. They must log in to vote, and voting is capped at one ballot per day.

A message on the voting site, https://vote.rockhall.com/ says: “Your vote, your voice. It’s time for you to support your favorite Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2021 Nominees and help them reach the top 5 of the official Fan’s Ballot. You can select up to 5 Nominees daily and submit your vote. Share your ballot, spread the word and rock the vote now until April 30!”

Check out the list of past inductees: https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/a-z

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