The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its class of 2013 inductees, and leading the charge are Rush, Heart and Public Enemy.
There have been many fans on the hard rock and classic rock side who have been clamoring for Rush to get their due, and next year they will be among the class of new inductees. “It’s a terrific honor and we’ll show up smiling,” said vocalist-bassist Geddy Lee to Rolling Stone. “It made my mom happy, so that’s worth it.” Lee was well aware of the fan support to get them into the Rock Hall, adding, “It was a cause they championed. I’m very relieved for them and we share this honor with them, for sure.”

Heart, like Rush, had been passed over before, but sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson & co. will enter the Rock Hall in 2013. Singer Ann Wilson said, “Some people have an idea of what the shape of rock and roll is supposed to look like. We’re not really it. Personally, that’s why I think it’s taken awhile … We’re always traveling and out there doing it. It can start to feel like you’re a tree falling in the forest, but nobody notices. So this kind of acknowledgement is really sweet.”

On the rap side, Public Enemy became the fourth hip-hop act to be inducted, following Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. The group crossed boundaries with their collaboration with Anthrax on the rap-meets-metal single ‘Bring the Noise.’

This year’s other inductees include singer-songwriter-composer Randy Newman, disco queen Donna Summer and blues great Albert King. Also joining the Rock Hall are Quincy Jones and Lou Adler, both of whom will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers.

The 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place April 18 at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater and will air on HBO May 18.

-loudwire