Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G. lead field into rock hall

(AP) — The posthumous inductees Whitney Houston and The Notorious B.I.G. will lead this year’s class into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame.

They’ll be joined by Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Nine Inch Nails and T-Rex.

Houston, the gospel-trained singer with the soaring voice, had a string of No. 1 singles including “I Will Always Love You.”

Before being killed in a drive-by shooting in 1997, Biggie was a leader of East Coast rap.

The Doobie Brothers were formed in Northern California, 50 years ago. They were a constant presence on the radio in the 1970’s with “Listen to the Music”, “China Grove” and “What A Fool Believes.”

Depeche Mode is a British band formed in 1980. They are best known for the songs “People Are People”, “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Personal Jesus”.

The band Nine Inch Nails was formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988 by Trent Reznor.  They’re songs include “Closer”, “Wish” and “Hurt”, which later became a hit for Johnny Cash.

The glam-rock band T-Rex was formed in England in 1967. They’re hits include “Get It On”, “Hot Love” and “Metal Guru”. Lead singer Marc Bolan was killed in a car crash in 1977.

The annual induction ceremony is being held in Cleveland this year and is being televised live for the first time ever, on May 2.