NEW YORK (Reuters) – Guitarist Jeff Beck, heavy metal band Metallica and vocalists Little Anthony & the Imperials are headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the music organization announced on Wednesday.
Singer, songwriter and musician Bobby Womack, hip hop's Run-D.M.C. and country music's Wanda Jackson, along with musicians Spooner Oldham, D.J. Fontana and Bill Black, rounded out the list of 2009 inductees.
The names were announced at a news conference in New York.
The induction ceremony is scheduled for April 4 in Cleveland, Ohio, where the Hall of Fame and Museum are located. The show marks the first time since 1997 that it will be staged in Cleveland after several years in New York.
On hand for the announcement in New York were the members of Metallica, considered one of the most influential heavy metal bands.
"We've done this our way. Twenty-seven, 28 years later, we're here," said drummer Lars Ulrich.
Guitar great Beck played with the Yardbirds as well as forming The Jeff Beck Group in the 1960s and playing with such top stars as Buddy Guy and Mick Jagger.
Little Anthony & the Imperials, who began singing in the 1950s, are known for such hits as "Tears on my Pillow" and "Goin' Out of My Head."
Womack has been recording music since the 1960s, as a singer and a backing guitarist for Sam Cooke.
Run-D.M.C. is credited with transforming hip hop from an urban, streetwise sound to music that proved popular with a wider audience.
Jackson, who sang both country music and rockabilly, began recording in the 1950s and was inducted in the Hall of Fame's early influence category.
Inducted in the sidemen category were Oldham, a keyboard player on such hits as "Mustang Sally" by Wilson Pickett; Fontana, a drummer for Elvis Presley on songs such as "Hound Dog;" and Black, a bassist for Presley on such hits as "Jailhouse Rock."
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(Reuters)
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