NEW YORK - Bon Jovi, the Moody Blues, Dire Straits, the Cars, Nina Simone and Sister Rosetta Tharpe joined music royalty on Sunday as they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Richie Sambora, the original guitarist for arena-packing rockers Bon Jovi reunited with the band for a rousing set at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland that included hits "You Give Love a Bad Name and "It's My Life."

R&B-infused progressive rockers the Moody Blues took the stage to perform "Your Wildest Dreams," while New Wave pop songwriters the Cars played "Just What I Needed."

Soul legend Nina Simone and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the gospel inspiration for early rockers, both of whom were posthumously inducted, and British rockers Dire Straits rounded out the 2018 Hall of Fame class.

The shrine to rock culture surveyed some 1,000 historians and music industry players to select the new inductees.

Bon Jovi, the hard rockers from New Jersey led by namesake Jon Bon Jovi, came out on top in a survey that drew 6.8 million fans, whose preferences were taken into account to give an extra vote to five acts.

With a string of quickly memorable hits such as "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive," Bon Jovi became kings in the 1980s, packing arenas on their exhaustive tours full of pyrotechnics.

Simone, who won induction on her first nomination, was widely considered one of the most influential singers of the 20th century who brought the sensibilities of classical music to gospel and jazz.

Tharpe, who died in 1973, was chosen for her early influence on rock. - AFP