Whitney Houston, the Notorious B.I.G. and Nine Inch Nails are among the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

The Notorious B.I.G. and Whitney Houston are among the new inductees. Photos / AP

Whitney Houston and the Notorious B.I.G. were among those announced Wednesday morning as the newest inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Nine Inch Nails and T. Rex rounded out the eclectic class.

Of the six inductees, four appeared on the ballot for the first time: Houston, the Doobie Brothers, the Notorious B.I.G. and T. Rex. Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode were previously nominated. The 2020 inductees also include longtime music managers Jon Landau and Irving Azoff, who will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award honoring those who have greatly influenced the rock genre.

The inductees are chosen by an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, including historians, music industry professionals and previous Rock Hall inductees. Despite winning the Rock Hall's online fan vote by a large margin, Dave Matthews Band didn't make the cut. (Neither did second-place winner Pat Benatar.)

On Wednesday, Depeche Mode thanked its supporters in a tweet from the band's Twitter account: "We're honoured to be included as one of this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and to stand alongside the other incredible acts in the Rock Hall and those joining this year." The Doobie Brothers also thanked voters on Twitter.

Reznor told Rolling Stone in an interview published after the announcement that he was "freaked out" and "quite in shock" about the accolade. The rocker, who notably dismissed the ceremony's significance in a 2018 interview, said he came around to the idea after being invited to induct the Cure last year.

"It is just nice to see a bunch of people celebrating music as the primary thing," Reznor said Wednesday. "It felt legit. It felt really good."