Nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2012 are in. Guns N’ Roses, the Cure, Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Eric B. and Rakim, the Spinners, the Small Faces/Faces, Freddy King and Rufus with Chaka Khan are all hitting the ballot for the first time, while previous nominees Beastie Boys, Laura Nyro, War Donovan and Red Hot Chili Peppers also made the cut. The top vote-getters will be inducted on April 14th, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio, home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Artists that released their their first single or album in 1986 or earlier were eligible for this year's ballot. "The 2012 Nominees embody the broad scope of what ‘rock & roll’ means,” said Joel Peresman, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. “From vocal groups to hip-hop, from singer-songwriters to hard rocking artists, this group represents the spirit of what we celebrate at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

Many bands – including the Talking Heads, Cream, the Police and Led Zeppelin – have put aside longstanding feuds to perform at the Rock and Hall Fall of Fame induction ceremony. If Guns N' Roses are inducted, the group's longtime fans will certainly be hoping for a reunion. "I have no idea how that's supposed to go," Slash said in a 2010 interview when asked about a Hall of Fame reunion. "If Axl, Duff, Izzy and myself start communicating, it could go one way. It we don't, God knows."

The votes are in and next year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class will include Guns N' Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, The Small Faces/Faces, Donovan and Laura Nyro. Freddie King well enter the Hall of Fame as an Early Influence, while the late producer and TV host Don Kirshner will receive the Ahmet Ertegun (nonperformer) Award and producers Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns will receive the Award for Musical Excellence. The ceremony will be held April 14th at Cleveland's Public Hall. It will be broadcast on HBO in early May.

Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis got the news while his band was touring Europe."I called my dad and cried," he tells Rolling Stone. "The most emotional part for me was thinking about [late Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist] Hillel Slovak . . . It's really kind of his induction that I'm the most excited about. He's a beautiful person that picked up a guitar in the 1970s and didn't make it out of the 1980s, and he is getting honored for his beauty . . . It really fills my heart with the reality of how much we love doing what we do, and how much Flea and I love each other. We have stuck together through thick and thin and we want to keep on trucking and continuing to do what it is we do."

Guns N' Roses are the only group to be inducted on their first year of eligibility. The original line-up hasn't performed together since drummer Steven Adler left the band in 1990. During an interview last month with VH1 Classic's That Metal Show, Axl Rose didn't completely rule out a reunion. "I don't know what it means in terms of me with the old band and the old lineup," he said. "If we were to be invited, I don't know what they would ask of me. It's up in the air."

Steven Adler remains skeptical that Axl will be willing to perform with the original lineup. "You figure that time heals all wounds," he tells Rolling Stone. "But some people just REALLY hold a crazy grudge. I just had lunch with Slash two days ago. He loves Axl. He holds no grudges towards him. Twenty years of great music wasn't created because of some stupid grudge...Can't we just be fucking people who played music and accomplished a huge goal in their life and just play a couple songs? It's only rock and roll, my god! It's not rocket science."

For Faces/Small Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, the news was somewhat bittersweet. "I was not happy that the Small Faces and the Faces were lumped together," he tells Rolling Stone. "I've given it a lot of thought and I figure, well . . . I'll take it." The Faces have been touring with former Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall, but original singer Rod Stewart recently said that he'd like to reunite with the group at the ceremony. "I'll be happy if he does that," says McLagan. "It certainly would be wonderful."

This is the third time that the ceremony will be held in Cleveland, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. As in 2009, the ceremony will be open to the public.

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Newman will play "Rednecks", & get murdered by Chuck D, who will then plead ignorance of satire. Of course, anyone who calls one's side project Confrontation Camp, AFTER having defended antisemitism (cough, Griff, cough), prolly is ignorant of satire.