Rock Hall nominees – Guns N' Roses, Beasties, Joan Jett, Eric B. & Rakim

Guns N' Roses, The Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers lead this year's list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 2012 induction class, but look for a pair of Long Island Music Hall of Famers – Joan Jett and The Blackhearts and hip-hop's Eric B. & Rakim – to make some noise as well.

Also on this year's nomination list: The Cure, Donovan, Heart, Freddie King, Laura Nyro, Rufus with Chaka Khan, The Small Faces/The Faces, The Spinners, Donna Summer, and War. To be eligible, nominees had to release their first significant recording before 1986.

A group of 500 music experts will narrow the nomination list to an inductee class that's usually between 5 and 7 artists. The induction will be in Cleveland, where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is based, on April 14, 2012, instead of its usual home at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.

“The 2012 Nominees embody the broad scope of what ‘rock and roll’ means,” said Joel Peresman, president and chief executive 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.”