Cheap Trick, Steve Miller, Deep Purple, Chicago and N.W.A have all been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The 31st annual induction ceremony will take place on April 8th at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. HBO will broadcast the ceremony later in the spring.

Artists become eligible, 25 years after the release of their first recordings. Cheap Trick, Chicago and Steve Miller, all of whom have long been eligible, were all elected on their first nomination. Deep Purple and N.W.A have been nominated before.

The public's five favorites were counted as a “fans’ ballot” along with the hundreds of industry insiders who voted. Three of the fan selections were elected: Chicago (#1), Deep Purple (#4) and Steve Miller (#5).

Since Cheap Trick, Chicago and Deep Purple have all undergone personnel changes over the years, the Hall designates who exactly will be enshrined:

Cheap Trick: Guitarist Rick Nielsen, singer Robin Zander, former drummer Bun E. Carlos and bassist Tom Petersson. We reached the band en route to a show in Riverside, California Wednesday. Rick joked, "We'll have to tell our agent not to book us that night." On a more serious note, he said, "We were eligible in 2002 but we got bypassed until now. People always asked us why we weren't in the Hall of Fame. This time the stars and the sun and the moon were shining in the right spot. This is definitely going on the top of our résumé. If we had a résumé."

Chicago: The original line-up of Peter Cetera, the late Terry Kath, Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, Walter Parazaider and Danny Seraphine. Of these seven, only Lamm, Pankow, Parazaider and Loughnane remain in the band. Asked about the honor, Lee Loughnane told us, "Like our song 'I've Been Searchin' So Long' goes, 'GOOD THINGS TAKE A LONG TIME'."

Steve Miller: Despite being billed as The Steve Miller Band, only Steve is being inducted.

Deep Purple: Original members Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice and the late Jon Lord, along with Roger Glover, Ian Gillan, David Coverdale, Rod Evans and Glenn Hughes. Only Gillan, Glover and Paice are still in the band.

Reacting to the news, Purple's manager said only, "Wonders never cease."

Right before the announcement of Purple's election, Paice told Classic Rock magazine that there was likely to be some friction at the induction ceremony. "I don't need to tell anyone certain key members and former members of this band do not get on. If some people are inducted together, it could end in a punch-up. The Hall of Fame should be embarrassed for not inducting us already. Look at some of the non-entities who've got in. I won't name them, but just have a look at some of those names, and you'll know who I mean. What have they ever done for rock and roll? Nothing. Having these artists in before Deep Purple undermines what it is supposed to represent."

Gillan echoes Paice's sentiment, having recently said, "I have no respect for them... They’ve no idea what goes on in the big, wide world outside of their self-arbitrating surroundings. To me, those people are bloody arrogant and rude... It wouldn’t change our lives one way or the other. That probably sounds petty but it’s not meant to. It's just an annoyance to be honest.”

Blackmore, who parted ways with Purple in 1993, was recently quoted as saying he would "never go [to the ceremony]. I'm not really a fan of that stuff. Considering some of the people that are in the Hall of Fame, I'm not sure if it's a good idea, so I don't care one way or the other."

These nominees were not elected:
•Yes
•The Cars
•Janet Jackson
•The Spinners
•Chaka Khan
•Chic
•The J.B.'s
•Nine Inch Nails
•The Smiths
•Los Lobos