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Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks joining Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Janet Jackson, Stevie Knicks and Def Leppard are among the latest group of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Radiohead, the Cure, Roxy Music and the Zombies will also be ushered in at the 34th induction ceremony Friday, March 29, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The nominations were announced in December.

Jackson's induction comes after her third time as nominee and many saw it as overdue, given her prowess as a hitmaker with songs like "All For You," "That's the Way Love Goes," "Nasty," "Together Again" and "What Have You Done For Me Lately."

Her career suffered from the fallout after the infamous 2004 Super Bowl appearance where her bare breast was briefly exposed. Jackson became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 but wasn't nominated until 2016. 

Another of this year's class, The Zombies, waited even longer — they were first eligible for induction in 1989. Stevie Nicks made the cut her second time nominated. The top fan vote-getter of the class was Def Leppard. 

Here is more on the 2019 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Janet Jackson

Though Janet Jackson's fans complained for years that the singer was unfairly shut out from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she finally joins her brother Michael and the Jackson 5 as members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

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Singer Janet Jackson performs during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Christopher Polk/Getty Images

The Roots' Questlove, in a social media post earlier this year, said her exclusion had been "highly criminal." He cited the influence of her 1986 album "Control," which he said set off the New Jack Swing trend.

"This was no one's kid sister," he wrote. On Thursday, after the nomination was announced, he tweeted, "Wanna say 'my work is done, i can die now' but we have a long long way to go," while congratulating Jackson on her "LONG WAY overdue induction." 

Jackson herself tweeted to her fans, "We did it u guys." 

Stevie Nicks

Nicks picks up another induction, since she is already in the rock hall as a member of Fleetwood Mac. She launched a solo career in 1981 with her duet with the late Tom Petty, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." Other hits followed, including "Edge of Seventeen," ″Stand Back" and "I Will Run to You."

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Singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks on June 6, 2014, in Los Angeles. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for FOX

Def Leppard

Def Leppard earned more than half a million votes from fans, which are incorporated into more than 1,000 ballots from artists, historians, industry professionals and past winners in deciding who gets honored. The British heavy metal band with a pop sheen were huge sellers in the 1980s on the back of songs like "Photograph" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me."

Frontman Joe Elliott said he was initially ambivalent toward the honor until Jon Bon Jovi suggested it would change his life.

"When I look at the list of who's in, it's just obvious you'd want to be in that club, isn't it?" he told Billboard earlier this year. "When you think that every band that means anything in the world, starting from the Beatles and the Stones and any artist that influenced them — your Chuck Berrys, your Little Richards, etc., etc. — then of course you want to be in. Why wouldn't you?"

Def Leppard, Nicks and Roxy Music were voted in during their first years as nominees. Other 2019 nominees who didn't make the cut included LL Cool J, Devo, Rage Against the Machine, MC5, John Prine, Todd Rundgren and Kraftwerk.

Radiohead

There's some question about whether Radiohead will shrug its collective shoulder as a nominee. The English band seemed like generic grunge rockers on their initial hit "Creep," but with the album "OK Computer" and beyond have become consistent sonic pioneers. Among its rock hall class, Radiohead has the most impact on the current music scene.

In an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this year, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood said "I don't care" when asked about the rock hall. Bandmate Ed O'Brien said, "culturally, I don't understand it. I think it might be a quintessentially American thing."

The Cure

The Cure and frontman Robert Smith resist their initial label as goth rockers, champions of fans who like black makeup, black clothes and darkly romantic songs. They have a durable catalog of hits, including "Friday I'm in Love," "Boys Don't Cry," "Pictures of You" and "Let's Go to Bed."

Roxy Music

Roxy Music came out of the 1970s progressive rock scene and had hits with "Love is the Drug" and "More Than This." Dapper member Bryan Ferry had a successful solo career and Brian Eno has been an influential producer.

The Zombies

The heyday of British rockers the Zombies' career was the 1960s, with big sellers "She's Not There" and "Time of the Season." 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony March 29 will be carried on HBO and SiriusXM.


This is an updated version of a story first published Dec. 13, 2018.

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