It's a banner year for the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, as it's been announced that Nirvana, KISS, Peter Gabriel, and more have been inducted into the 2014 class! 

The 2014 ceremony -- which will be held at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn this year, as opposed to NYC's Waldorf-Astoria, Cleveland, and Los Angeles as in years past -- will induct Nirvana, Hall and Oates, Peter Gabriel, KISS, Linda Ronstadt, and Cat Stevens. In addition, the Hall will honor Beatles manager Brian Epstein and Rolling Stones manager Andrew Oldham with the Ahmet Ertegun Award for their lifetime achievements in rock 'n' roll (Epstein will be awarded the honor posthumously). Finally, the E Street Band -- best known for their contributions to Bruce Springsteen's career -- will be honored in the Musical Excellence category.

"We know that engaging the fans is a huge opportunity," says Joel Peresman, president/CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. "It gives them a chance to be a part of the ceremony, but it also adds a palpable energy to the event. Once we decided to open the ceremony to the public in New York, that had a huge impact on the decision to have it at Barclays Center." 

Thanks to the fan votes, Kiss (who earned 239,000 votes) and Nirvana (a first-time nominee who earned 218,000 votes) were easy winners of this year's honorees. However, the voting wasn't just determined by fan votes: Deep Purple and Yes received more fan votes than Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Linda Ronstadt, and Cat Stevens, yet weren't honored this year. Other nominees that didn't make the cut were Chic, N.W.A. -- the pivotal gangsta rap group that launched the careers of Dr. Dre & Ice Cube -- the Meters, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, LL Cool J, the Replacements, Link Wray, and the Zombies.

"All of the 2014 inductees introduced us to something new," Peresman says. "They might have drawn from their predecessors or built on what came before them, but they all took something from their roots, transformed it, made it their own and brought it to the world at the right time." 

(Source, Source)