Rock Hall of Fame announces finalists

NEW YORK, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- First-time nominee U2 leads the 15 finalists for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2005.

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, meanwhile, is poised to become rap's first inductee into the shrine.

The Irish rockers and the New York rappers lead a list that also includes: punk rock icons the Sex Pistols, Patti Smith and the Stooges; classic rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd, the J. Geils Band and the Pretenders; blues guitarist Buddy Guy; Nashville legend Conway Twitty; singer-songwriters Randy Newman and Gram Parsons; and R&B acts the O'Jays, Percy Sledge and Wanda Jackson.

Ballots were mailed to voters this week and are due back at the Hall of Fame Foundation headquarters by Oct. 8. The inductees will most likely be announced in November.

The induction ceremony -- the Hall of Fame's 20th -- is expected to take place in mid-March in New York .