The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has officially announced next year's inductees: Rush, Public Enemy, Heart, Randy Newman, Donna Summer and Albert King will all join the class of 2013, with Summer, who passed away this May, and King, who died in 1992, earning the honor posthumously. Lou Adler and Quincy Jones will both receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers.

Reuters, Getty, AP (2)

Heart, Rush, Randy Newman and Public Enemy are among the new inductees.

"It's a terrific honor and we'll show up smiling," Rush's singer and bassist, Geddy Lee, tells Rolling Stone. "It made my mom happy, so that's worth it." Lee is especially happy for Rush's army of hardcore fans. "It was a cause they championed," he says. "I'm very relieved for them and we share this honor with them, for sure."

Q&A: Geddy Lee on Rush's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction

Public Enemy are only the fourth hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted in 2007, Run-D.M.C. made it in in 2009 and the Beastie Boys received the honor last year.

Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart were also overjoyed to learn the news. "Some people have an idea of what the shape of rock & roll is supposed to look like," says Ann Wilson. "We're not really it. Personally, that's why I think it's taken quite a while . . . We're always traveling and out there doing it. It can start to feel like you're a tree falling in the forest, but nobody notices. So this kind of acknowledgement is really sweet."

Heart: We weren't sure induction was real

For Randy Newman, the news came as a shock. "I thought maybe I'd have to die before they let me in," he says. "I'm really glad it happened when I was still around to see it . . . They're always a little doctrinaire about what's rock & roll and what isn't rock & roll. It's nice they opened up a little to let me in."

Randy Newman: 'I thought maybe I'd have to die'

The public was allowed to vote for the first time in the history of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. Votes were taken online, and the result was a "fan's ballot" that was counted along with roughly 600 other ballots.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on April 18, 2013 at the Nokia Theater and broadcast on HBO May 18. Tickets will go on sale to the public on Jan. 25.

Slideshow: Bands of the ‘70s that just won’t quit

AP

Launch slideshow

Do these artists deserve the honor? Tell us on Facebook.

Related content:

• Luke Bryan leads American Country Awards
• Party antics keep Bruno Mars tweeting all night

Tim Mosenfelder / Getty Images file

Geddy Lee of Rush.

The nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2013 are in. This year's hopefuls are Albert King, Chic, Deep Purple, Donna Summer, Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Kraftwerk, the Marvelettes, the Meters, N.W.A., Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Procul Harum, Public Enemy, Randy Newman and Rush. The top vote-getters will be inducted on April 18 at the Nokia Theater L.A. live in Los Angeles.

Meet the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees

For the first time, the public gets to vote alongside the artists, historians and music industry insiders of the Rock Hall voting body. From now until Dec. 5, fans can vote on RollingStone.com for the nominees they'd like to see inducted. The top five acts will comprise a "fan's ballot" that will count as one of the more than 600 ballots that determine the Class of 2013. The results will be announced in mid-December.

Vote for the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

"The definition of 'rock & roll' means different things to different people, but as broad as the classifications may be, they all share a common love of the music," commented Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. "This year we again proudly put forth a fantastic array of groups and artists that span the entire genre that is 'rock & roll.'"

Rush have been eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1998, but this is their first time appearing on the ballot. Pioneering rap groups N.W.A and Public Enemy also both made the ballot in their first year of eligibility. If they are inducted, they will join fellow hip-hop acts Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys in the Hall of Fame.

The ceremony will be held in Los Angeles for the first time since 1993. It's usually held in New York at the Waldforf Astoria, but it was held in Cleveland in 1997, 2009 and 2012.

Cast your unofficial ballot for your favorite act of the bunch right here:

More from Rolling Stone:

• Photos: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, 1986 - 2012
• Photos: 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's greatest moments