NEW YORK — Welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Guns N’ Roses.
The seminal rock band of the late 1980s and early ‘90s, best known for such hits as “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “November Rain,” leads the 2012 class of inductees announced Wednesday. Also making the cut is the hip-hop trio Beastie Boys; rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers; the late singer/songwriter Laura Nyro; Donovan; and influential British rock group The Small Faces/The Faces, which included Rod Stewart and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood.
Nyro, who wrote such hits the 5th Dimension’s “Wedding Bell Blues” and Blood Sweat & Tears’ “When I Die,” is the only female act to make it this time around. The hall passed on Donna Summer, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Heart and Rufus with Chaka Khan, who were on the ballot for 2012.
But it wasn’t just women who were denied entry into the rock hall for next year. Voters also passed on hip-hop pioneers Eric B. & Rakim, War, the Cure and the Spinners.
Guns N’ Roses and the Faces were inducted their first time on the ballot. The Chili Peppers had to wait until their second try, and the Beastie Boys and Nyro were denied twice before making it this time around.
Other inductees include Freddie King for early influence; rock promoter Don Kirshner, who died earlier this year, receives the Ahmet Ertegun award; and Tom Dowd, Glyn Johns and Cosimo Matssa will be honored for musical excellence.
The Rock and Roll Hall of fame induction ceremony will be held in Cleveland, where the rock hall is based, on April 14.