CLEVELAND (AP) – Bon Jovi, the Cars and four first-time nominees, including Nina Simone, will be inducted Saturday night as the 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class.
Dire Straits, The Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who died in 1973, will also earn the prestigious honor at the organization’s 33rd annual ceremony at Public Auditorium in Cleveland, where the Rock Hall is based.
Bon Jovi, who have sold more than 120 million albums and launched multiple No. 1 hits, was first nominated in 2011. Jon Bon Jovi will be inducted alongside current bandmates David Bryan and Tico Torres, as well as former members Richie Sambora and Alec John Such. Sambora left in 2013; Such left in 1994.
The frontman said though he and the other current members haven’t spoken to Sambora since he left the group, he invites the performer, along with Such, to be part of the Rock Hall festivities. The band will be inducted by Howard Stern.
Brothers Mark and David Knopfler, of English rockers Dire Straits, won’t attend the event, according to bassist John Illsley.