The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has recently announced its 2015 nominees. Among the acts that top the list were punk rockers Green Day and the influential group Nine Inch Nails. The groups were nominated for the first time.

For the third succeeding year, the public gets to vote alongside the artists, historians and music industry insiders of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame elective body.  From now until Dec. 9, fans can vote for the nominees they'd want to see inducted.

The nominees for the Rock Hall's Class of 2015 include Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, N.W.A, the Smiths, Lou Reed, Sting, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Kraftwerk, Chic, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, the Marvelettes, the Spinners, Stevie Ray Vaughn, War and Bill Withers. As Rolling Stone first reported, in order to be qualified for this year's ballot, artists or bands need to have released their first single or album in 1989 or earlier.

Based on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's eligibility for nomination rule, Billboard said that nominees Green Day and Nine Inch Nails are up for induction for the first time this year. This month, Nine Inch Nails' first album, "Pretty Hate Machine," will mark its 25^th anniversary while Green Day's EP "1,000 Hours" was released in April 1989.

As said by the CNN, the varied group of 2015 nominees characterizes the countless places where rock and roll meets with blues, electronic, dance, Motown, R&B, funk and other genres.

"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," the head of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Joel Peresman said in a statement.

The 2014 Rock Hall's Class included Cat Stevens, Nirvana, KISS, Hall and Oates, Linda Ronstadt and Peter Gabriel. Meanwhile, the 2015 class of inductees will be announced in December, to be followed by an induction ceremony in April 2015.

Over 700 artists, historians and music-industry professionals will vote the nominees to be inducted alongside with fans. Their top five artists will make up a fans' ballot, which counts as a single vote. As said earlier, the public can join in the process by casting votes through Dec. 9 at USA TODAY, Rolling Stone and the official Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Web site.