Rock Hall Adds Moody Blues, Bon Jovi Members

Share This:

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Dec. 13 announcement of its Class of 2018 inductees did not identify the individual members of the bands that were being included. One had to do a bit of a search to see who among past (and in some cases, current) members of Bon Jovi, the Cars, Dire Straits and the Moody Blues would be so honored at the April 14 ceremony at Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio.

The initial list identified the following band members:

Bon Jovi: David Bryan, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Alec John Such and Tico Torres.

The Cars: Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes, David Robinson, Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr.

Dire Straits: Alan Clark, Guy Fletcher, John Illsley, David Knopfler, Mark Knopfler and Pick Withers.

The Moody Blues: Graeme Edge, Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas.

(Also named were singer-pianist Nina Simone and one of the inventors of rock ‘n’ roll music, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the latter in the Early Influence category.)

Turns out, an additional member of the Moody Blues and Bon Jovi have been added to their respective band’s official inductee list.

Denny Laine, an original member of the Moody Blues, and lead singer of their first hit, 1964’s “Go Now,” will join the group’s five other inductees. The guitarist left the band in 1966 and was replaced by Hayward. He later joined Paul McCartney to form Wings in 1971 and remained with the group until they ended their run in 1981.

Bass guitarist Hugh McDonald first joined Bon Jovi in 1994 when Such departed and has been with them ever since. He performed on the original pre-Bon Jovi version of “Runaway” and will now join the other five members, including the man he replaced.

Give it up for Hugh…

Kudos to our friends at Ultimate Classic Rock, who reported the news about Laine on Dec. 21 after seeing a tweet from committee member Stevie Van Zandt, and to the Asbury Park Press who first shared the news about McDonald on Dec. 20.

Today (Dec. 22), the Rock Hall tweeted: “Once the Inductees were determined, the members of the Nominating Committee reviewed the list of artists and made the decision to add Denny and Hugh. We’re honored to include them at the Induction ceremony in April.”