Run-DMC, Metallica lead list of 2009 Rock Hall

NEW YORK — Run-DMC once hailed themselves as the Kings of Rock, so it's fitting that the pioneering rappers have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Run-DMC joins the heavy metal band Metallica, guitarist Jeff Beck, soul singer Bobby Womack and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials as this year's inductee class.

Though Run-DMC wasn't among the first rap acts, they were the first to achieve widespread mainstream success, and the first to notch a platinum album. The rapping duo of Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels — plus their DJ, the late Jam Master Jay — were rap's first rock stars. They had hits with songs like "My Adiddas" and "It's Tricky," but had their greatest success when they remade Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" with the rock act for a groundbreaking collaboration.

In an interview Wednesday, McDaniels called their induction "inconceivable."

"I'm a rap dude, I'm an MC from Hollis (a neighborhood in New York's borough of Queens), just rockin' the mic, and to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with the Beatles, and (Bob) Dylan, and the rock 'n' roll gods? It's ridiculous! Ridiculous in a good way," he said.

He also gave a nod to the predecessors who paved the way for the group's success: "I share this nomination and the induction and the whole award with those cats, everyone from the Bronx and Harlem who started this."

Jam Master Jay — whose real name was Jason Mizell — was shot to death in his recording studio in 2002. McDaniels doesn't consider the induction bittersweet — "because Jay isn't here to celebrate doesn't mean he's not partaking in this event" — but said he couldn't see the duo performing during the April 4 induction ceremony in Cleveland without him.

"We can't do it without Jay," he said. "I want people to remember the last time they saw us together, the three of us."

Like Run-DMC, Metallica made its debut 25 years ago with the seminal album "Kill 'Em All," and became pioneers in their genre, with their thrashing metal sound, led by the frenetic guitar play of James Hetfield and the drumming of Lars Ulrich. One of rock's more enduring bands, the group has sold upwards of 60 million records in the United States alone, and are still one of music's most successful acts: They are on a top-selling tour, their latest album, "Death Magnetic," has sold more than a million copies and has also been nominated for Grammy awards.

Rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson got a nod for the early influence category, and the sidemen inductees are session musician Spooner Oldham and two of Elvis Presley's musicians — drummer D.J. Fontana and bassist Bill Black.

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