Rock Hall Inductees Include Bon Jovi, Moody Blues
Nina Simone and Dire Straits also join the Hall of Fame class of 2018
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Nina Simone is among the six inductees chosen from a group of 19 nominees for the 2018 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Iconic singer Nina Simone and New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi lead the 2018 class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, which includes four first-time nominees.
The Cars, as well as first-time contenders Dire Straits, the Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, also are part of the 2018 class announced Wednesday.
They will be inducted on April 14 in Cleveland.
The six inductees were chosen from a group of 19 nominees — including Radiohead, who were expected to enter in the Rock Hall in their first year of eligibility but didn't make it.
Tharpe, a pioneering guitarist who performed gospel music and was known to some as "the godmother of rock and roll," will receive an Award for Early Influence. She died in 1973.
The jazzy and soulful Simone was a leader in pushing for civil rights and influenced the likes of Alicia Keys and Aretha Franklin before her death in 2003.
Bon Jovi, first nominated in 2011 and again this year, have sold more than 120 million albums and launched No. 1 hits "Livin' on a Prayer," ''You Give Love a Bad Name," ''Bad Medicine" and "I'll Be There for You."
The Cars, founded in Boston in 1976, combined New Wave and classic rock sounds.
Rock Hall voters recently have opened their hearts to progressive rockers, which benefited "Nights in White Satin" singers the Moody Blues. English rockers Dire Straits — including brothers Mark and David Knopfler — blended blues into their music.