Whitney Houston to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Courtesy of the Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe first time’s the charm for Whitney Houston. After making her first appearance on the ballot, the late superstar has been honored with induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of its Class of 2020.

Joining the Hall with Whitney will be another late icon, rapper The Notorious B.I.G., as well as The Doobie Brothers, ’80s synth-pop pioneers Depeche Mode, alt-rock veterans Nine Inch Nails, and British glam rockers T. Rex.

Whitney’s sold some 200 million records worldwide, and she was first artist to have seven consecutive number-one hits. She was also the first female artist to have an album debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Her awards are so numerous that she’s in the Guinness Book of World Records.

In 2019, Whitney returned to the charts with a remix of “Higher Love” produced by KYGO, and with a posthumous duet of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” with Pentatonix. Next month, a hologram tour sanctioned by her estate gets underway in England.

While some may dismiss her as simply a pop singer, Rock Hall President and CEO Greg Harris says Whitney is more along the lines of some of the legendary singers who are already in the Rock Hall. He tells ABC Audio, “[She]…follows in the footsteps of those great diverse singers before her, like Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin. They could deliver soulful ballads and hard-hitting dance numbers, rock and roll, soul, funk all rolled together.”

The 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held Saturday, May 2 in Cleveland, OH and will air live for the first time starting at 8 p.m. ET on HBO.

Tickets to the ceremony go on sale February 27 at 10 a.m. ET via RockHall.com .