The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has officially announced next year’s inductees: BON JOVI, DIRE STRAITS, THE MOODY BLUES, THE CARS and Nina Simone will all join the class of 2018. Sister Rosetta Tharpe will be given an Early Influence award.
Passed over were British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST, who have been eligible since 1999 but were only nominated for the first time this year.
[metalwani_content_ad]
The 33rd annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony will be held at Cleveland’s Public Hall on April 14, 2018. An edited version will air later on HBO and there will be a radio broadcast on SiriusXM. Ticket details will be announced in the near future.
“It’s a Christmas miracle,” BON JOVI keyboardist David Bryan told Rolling Stone on Wednesday. “[We were] guys living the dream, getting on a bus with no guarantees in any way shape or form or anything. It was, ‘Let’s go out and make this happen.’ And we actually did.”
The induction ceremony this year will feature a BON JOVI reunion: guitarist Richie Sambora left the group in 2013 under less-than-amicable circumstances. Jon Bon Jovi later told “Today” that he had moved on, though he insisted that he still had a special place in his heart for his former bandmate.
[metalwani_content_ad]
Drummer Tico Torres told Rolling Stone that Sambora and original bassist Alec John Such “are a huge part of us. We’d love it if they played with us.” David Bryan agreed. “The idea is that it’s a celebration of what we were and what we are,” he said. “You’ll see the current lineup and then see the original. It should be a fun night.”
Ballots were sent to a voting group of more than 1,000 artists, historians and music-industry professionals.