Dire Straits, Nina Simone, Bon Jovi Make Rock Hall Class of 2018

CLEVELAND, OH — The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced the members of the class of 2018 Wednesday morning. Next year's inductees will include: Bon Jovi, the Cars, Dire Straits, the Moody Blues and Nina Simone. Sister Rosetta Tharpe will be honored with the award for early influence. The majority of the inductees were appearing on ballots for the first time.

Only Bon Jovi and the Cars were repeat nominees.

The induction ceremony will be held April 14, 2018, at Public Auditorium in Cleveland. The Rock Hall will host a week of events leading up to the induction.

The 19 nominees for the class of 2018 were: Bon Jovi, Kate Bush, the Cars, Depeche Mode, Dire Straits, Eurythmics, J. Geils Band, Judas Priest, Link Wray, LL Cool J, MC5, the Meters, Moody Blues, Nina Simone, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and the Zombies.

Rock Hall CEO Greg Harris announced the inductees on Wednesday morning. "Congratulations to all 19 nominees. Your impact and influence on rock and roll, and all of us as fans, has been tremendous," he said.

Fans took to social media to celebrate, or bemoan, the announcement of the inductees. A Bon Jovi fan wrote on Twitter that the induction would be, "a day long deserved and long awaited." Kyle O, another Bon Jovi fan on Twitter, noted, "After Bon Jovi got snubbed from the Rock Hall in 2011 they went and put out two back-to-back #1 albums.. legends"

Not everyone was as pleased with Bon Jovi' induction. "A joke. Bon Jovi over Radiohead? They are the 2nd greatest, most influential band of all time. These voters are as bad and meaningless as baseball writers," said Derek Macchia on Twitter. Another Twitter user quipped simply, "What a terrible group of inductees."

Welcome to the Hall of Fame, official #RockHall2018 Inductees. Class + @KlipschAudio Induction Ceremony details: https://t.co/0Hk6KLhq27 pic.twitter.com/UYTKvQ9SJZ
— Rock Hall (@rockhall) December 13, 2017

Photo from Rick Ulricks, Patch