It did not take long to find out who the first inductor will be for the upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony this April.

On the Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM, Jon Bon Jovi announced that Stern was his first choice:

“The truth is I only had one choice….nobody knows not only me but the members of the band as well as Howard.”

Bon Jovi, both the singer and the group have been longtime guests of the Show dating back to 80’s. Stern told Bon Jovi that he was “honored” and “would be thrilled to do it”.

Stern should make an entertaining figure for the ceremony and we look forward to see who will also become inductors.

While we know that Christmas Morning is a couple of weeks away, it is our December 25 at Notinhalloffame.com.

This morning the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the new inductees for the Class of 2018.

Let’s get right the new inductee shall we?

Bon Jovi. Every year since the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame instituted the Fan Vote, the winner was selected. This year was no exception. Eligible since 2008, the New Jersey rockers got in on their second nomination and can still sell out arenas today. They have sold 120 million albums worldwide.

Inducted Members: David Bryan, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Alec John Such & Tico Torres.

The Cars. Classic Rock. New Wave. Pop. The Cars checked all of those categories and arguably is the safest choice of the lot. The band has been eligible since 2003 and received their first nomination two years ago and was also nominated last year.

Inducted Members: Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes, David Robinson, Ric Ocasek & Benjamin Orr.

Dire Straits. Eligible since 2003, Dire Straits was a straight up rock band that stood out in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. This was their only nomination.

Inducted Members: Alan Clark, Guy Fletcher, John Illsley, David Knophler, Mark Knophler, Pick Withers.

The Moody Blues: How long have fans been waiting for this one? The British group has been eligible since 1989, yet had to wait nearly 30 years for their first nomination. They only needed one, and they are finally in.

Inducted Members: Graeme Edge, Justin Haywars, John Lodge, Mike Pinder & Ray Thomas.

Nina Simone: The High Priestess of Soul has also never been nominated until now, but like Dire Straits and The Moody Blues, that was all that was required.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe:: As we expected, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was chosen but slotted in as an Early Influence Selection, which males you wonder why she was nominated at all considering the Hall could have just inducted her without nominating her in this fashion. Regardless, the musical legacy of Tharpe is certainly Rock and Roll Hall of Fame worthy.

Based on the nominees this was about as safe as they could be, and we can imagine that many rock traditionalists are very happy with this class.

Radiohead, who were eligible for the first time this year did not get in, and notably they said earlier that they would not be attending (should they have gotten in) as they already booked a concert in Buenos Aires that date. One has to wonder if that played a factor in the group not being selected.

Also passed over this year were Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, The J. Geils Band, Judas Priest, Kate Bush, Link Wray, LL Cool J, MC5, The Meters, Rage Against the Machine, Rufus with Chaka Khan & The Zombies.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on April 14, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio.

We will begin work in the new year on the revised list for the 2018 vote. Look for that in late January.

What do Rush, Kiss, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Chicago and Journey have in common? Other than being members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, all of them won the fan vote, by which the regular public could make their voices heard to the Rock Hall, and since its inception all of the above winners were elected in that respective year.

If history is to be repeated than we should pencil in Bon Jovi as an inductee for the next Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class, as they were the runaway winners from the fan vote.

According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the fan vote ballot takes the top five vote getters in that order and it counts the same as any one of the 90 others that it receives from musicians/experts who comprise the voting body, though again the fan vote has been unblemished to date.

The voting tally is as follows:

Bon Jovi: 1,162,146

The Moody Blues: 947,795

Dire Straits: 613,749

The Cars: 552,733

Judas Priest: 538,508

The Zombies: 529,478

Eurythmics: 451,997

1. Geils Band: 349,319

Depeche Mode: 302,144

Nina Simone: 184,628

Kate Bush: 179,337

Radiohead: 176,310

Rage Against the Machine: 167,903

The MC5: 127,004

LL Cool J: 118,317

Sister Rosetta Tharpe: 111,158

Link Wray: 98,436

Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan: 84,625

The Meters: 59,045

The announcement foe the next Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class will be announced on the Hall’s Facebook page on December 13.

We love days like this.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced today with some serious shockers, so let’s get right to it!

The 19 nominees are:

Bon Jovi: Bon Jovi is nominated for the second time and poses a serious threat to advance all the way this yesr. Don’t be surprised if they win the fan vote.

The Cars: This is the third nominee in a row for the group.

Depeche Mode. Nominated for the second year in a row, should they get in they would be the first 80’s alternative band to get inducted.

Dire Straits. This is the first nomination for Dire Straits and they should get a lot of support on the fan vote.

The Eurythmics. Another first time nominee, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart churned out some of the most enduring songs in the 80’s.

The J. Geils Band. This is the fifth nomination for the band and the first following the death of J. Geils.

Judas Priest. This is the first time they have been nominated, and they are the Heavy Metal nominee this year. This bodes well for other forgotten metal acts.

Kate Bush. A nice surprise here, as this first time nominee was very large on the British scene.

Link Wray. The inventor of the power chord receives his second nomination. His first was in 2014.

LL Cool J. LL Cool J is nominated for the fourth time and are the hip hop nominee for this year.

MC5. MC5 secures their third nomination ever, and their second in a row.

The Meters. The fourth nomination for the Meters, who saw their first in 1997.

The Moody Blues. This might generate the biggest sigh of relief from their fanbase. They have been eligible since 1989 and has a significant online presence pushing for this induction.

Nina Simone. Another nice surprise here. This is the first nomination for Nina Simone since being eligible in 1983.

Radiohead: In their first year of eligibility, Radiohead is no surprise showing up as a nominee. There is little reason to think that they won’t get in immediately.

Rage Against the Machine: RATM is a first ballot inductee too, though it might be a little surprising that other first ballot eligible acts, Wu-Tang Clan and Beck were not chosen.

Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. Chaka Khan was nominated as a solo last year and frankly there is a better chance for her nominated with her original group.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Huh? While she was a gospel star in the 30’s and 40’s and influential in the American Rock and Roll canon, this seems like an Early Influence inductee and is very out of place here.

The Zombies. This will be the third crack for the Zombies.

Hmmmmm.

While there will be many happy to see the Moody Blues and Judas Priest finally get a chance there will be (as there always is) upset fans over the fact that their favorite act were not chosen as a nominee. This is certainly a diverse group and frankly we need some time to digest this.

We know all of you have some opinions and we would love to hear it.

Bon Jovi is one of the most successful rock bands of all time, there is no denying that.  Around since the early 1980’s, this is a band that can still sell out an arena tour so you would think they would have garnered more attention from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Apart from a lone nomination in 2011, there have been no signs that they have been considered since.  As you might expect, this might stick in the craw of the bands leader, Jon Bon Jovi.  In an interview today with Howard Stern, he indicated just that.

When asked by Stern about the band’s omission from the Rock Hall, Bon Jovi stated that he had “bad blood between one of the guy’s running the Rock Hall”:

“I called him a few choice words and I'm never shy, when I see him, to call him a few more choice words…And there's other guys on that thing that have made it their personal mission to f*** with me. And that's okay. I get it. I've sold more records than their artists."

The rocker did not state which person it was, but the common guess is that it is one of two people; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President, Joel Peresmen or Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner, who is the Chairman and Founder of the Hall.

The snub of Bon Jovi could very well be a long one.  Kiss waited over fifteen years to get in, and they too famously had a beef with Wenner. 

In all likelihood, Bon Jovi will eventually get in, and probably should.  We have a feeling they are going to make them wait for it.

Considering the vast amount of artists discussed here, only a small handful of them have achieved success through out their twenty five years awaiting eligibility. Even less on this list could sell out an arena internationally. Not only has Bon Jovi accomplished both feats; they could very well be the only group on this list with the best shot of maintaining that status over the next twenty five years.