Six more artists will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony Thursday, April 10, from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The hall, shown here, is in Cleveland.
Nirvana kicked off the grunge revolution with its second studio album, "Nevermind," in 1991. Lead singer Kurt Cobain, center, died in 1994. Rumors have swirled that Joan Jett will front the group with surviving members Dave Grohl, left, and Krist Novoselic at the induction performance.
Kiss used makeup to take its stage persona to another level. The group built its fan base through constant touring and was rewarded with such hit singles as "Rock and Roll All Nite," "Beth" and "Hard Luck Woman."
Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, was one of the leading singer-songwriters of the 1970s. Among his best-known songs are "Moonshadow," "Peace Train," "Wild World" and "Oh Very Young."
Daryl Hall, left, and John Oates started as a soul-and-rock duo in the mid-1970s with hits such as "Sara Smile" and "She's Gone." (Incidentally, Hall thought Oates' initial drafts of "She's Gone" "reminded me of a Cat Stevens song.") Hall & Oates became one of the biggest acts of the 1980s with songs such as "Kiss on My List," "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" and "Out of Touch."
Linda Ronstadt's powerful, wide-ranging voice made her interpretations of other artists' songs -- "You're No Good," "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" and "It's So Easy" -- some of the biggest hits of the 1970s.
Peter Gabriel left Genesis, a band he co-founded, in 1975. In his solo career, he's been a force for both political action -- his song "Biko" was about a South African activist -- and humanitarian causes. Commercially, his song "Sledgehammer" remains the most-played video on MTV almost 30 years after its debut.
- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted a new class on Thursday
- Inductees Peter Gabriel, Cat Stevens and Hall & Oates performed
- Nirvana gave an emotional induction speech and performance
- The 2014 ceremony was the first time it was held in Brooklyn
(CNN) -- The 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony Thursday celebrated some of the industry's greatest legends the best way it knew how: by turning up the music.
Along with the typical acceptance speeches at the 2014 event were some performances so awe-inspiring one of them kept going long after the show was done.
Held in Brooklyn's Barclays Center, the Rock Hall of Fame welcomed six new members: Nirvana, KISS, Hall & Oates, Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam), Linda Ronstadt and Peter Gabriel.
Gabriel was the first to take the stage on Thursday, performing his cut "Digging in the Dirt" from 1992's "Us." He then brought out Coldplay's Chris Martin -- who gave Gabriel's induction speech -- to duet with him on "Washing of the Water," followed by a performance of "In Your Eyes" with Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour.
Perhaps Gabriel helped set a mood of kindness and peace, because when all four original members of KISS took the stage there wasn't a trace of their famous animosity to be seen.
Inducted by Tom Morello -- a known KISS fan who crowed that "Kiss was never a critics' band. Kiss was a people's band!" -- Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss seemed sincere when they accepted their honor.
"This is a profound moment for all of us. We are humbled that the fans gave us the chance to do what we love doing," Simmons said. "And so I'm here just to say a few kind words about the four knuckleheads who, 40 years ago, got together and decided to put together the band that you see on stage, critics be damned. ... We wouldn't be here today without the initial Fantastic Four."
There wasn't a performance from KISS, but there were plenty more to look forward to: Stevens gave a rendition of "Father And Son" accompanied by an acoustic guitar, Hall & Oates performed classics like "I Can't Go For That," and the E Street Band took on "The River" and "Kitty's Back" after receiving the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Award for Musical Excellence from none other than the Boss himself.
"I thank you my beautiful men and women of E Street," Springsteen said in a speech that dug back to the group's very beginning. "You made me dream and love bigger than I could have ever without you. And tonight I stand here with just one regret: that (the late) Danny (Federici) and Clarence (Clemons) couldn't be with us here tonight."
And then, there was the tribute to Nirvana, eerily timed to come within days of the 20th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death.
R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe inducted the landmark rock group, calling them "singular, loud and melodic and deeply original. ... Nirvana defined a moment, a movement for outsiders, from the fags and the fat girls to the shy nerds and the goth kids in Tennessee and Kentucky, for the rockers to the awkward to the too-smart kids and the bullied. We were a community."
That community included Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, who was subdued Thursday when she took the stage to accept the recognition along with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and members of Cobain's family, including his mother.
"He would have been so proud," Cobain's mother, Wendy, said of her son. "He'd say he wasn't, but he would be."
While some may have been expecting Love to embrace her Love-ness and deliver one of the most talked about moments of the night, she was focused on family.
"I have a big speech, but I'm not going to say it. ... This is my family I'm looking at right now," she said, as she pushed past her tension with Grohl to walk over to him and give him a hug.
"I just wish Kurt was here to see this," she concluded.
For their performance, Nirvana recruited some top talent, from Joan Jett to Kim Gordon to Lorde, to help them light a fire with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "All Apologies."
According to Pitchfork, their collaboration continued into the early hours of Friday morning as Nirvana, joined by St. Vincent, Joan Jett and Kim Gordon, headed over to a secret show.
