The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has elected its Class of 2018. When the 33rd annual induction ceremony is held on April 14th at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, the honorees in the Performer Category will be:
- Bon Jovi
- The Cars
- Dire Straits
- The Moody Blues
- Nina Simone
In addition, an Award for Early Influence will go to the electric guitar-slinging gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Other than Bon Jovi and The Cars, the winners are first-time nominees. The Cars were nominated twice previously; Bon Jovi once.
This year's Fan Ballot proved to be a good predictor of the Hall's selections: Bon Jovi, The Moody Blues, Dire Straits and The Cars finished first, second, third and fourth, respectively, on the Fan Ballot.
To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band had to release its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior -- so 1992 for this group. An international voting body of more than 1,000 Inductees, historians and members of the music industry made the selection.
The 13 nominees passed over this year are:
- Kate Bush
- Depeche Mode
- Eurythmics
- J. Geils Band
- Judas Priest
- LL Cool J
- The MC5
- Meters
- Radiohead
- Rage Against the Machine
- Rufus f/ Chaka Khan
- Link Wray
- The Zombies
Ticket on-sale dates will be announced in January. HBO will air highlights later in the spring.