Nirvana Enters Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

The surviving members of Nirvana have led fellow inductees, including KISS, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The band, whose lead singer Kurt Cobain committed suicide 20 years ago, was inducted in its first year of eligibility for the honour.

Joan Jett replaced Cobain onstage at Brooklyn's Barclays Center to sing Smells Like Teen Spirit with Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and Pat Smear, who was a live guitarist with the band.

Grammy-winning singer Lorde was among fellow female singers Kim Gordon, of Sonic Youth, and Annie Clark, better known as St Vincent, who also joined in with a medley of Nirvana songs.

"Nirvana fans walk up to me every day and say thank you for the music," said bass player Novoselic. "When I hear that, I think of Kurt Cobain."

Former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe traced Nirvana's origins through the hardcore punk scene of the 1980s and said they were a voice for the disaffected.

"This is not pop music," Stipe said. "This is something much greater than that."

Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, hugged the surviving band members, with whom she has had some bad blood.

"I just wish Kurt was here to do this," she said.

The original four members of KISS didn't perform due to a dispute between active members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley and retired members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley.

But they did make peace and saluted each other in heartfelt induction speeches.

"This is a pivotal moment for all of us," said Simmons, the bass player and reality TV star. "We are humbled that the fans gave us the chance to do what we loved doing."

Bruce Spingsteen's E Street Band, Cat Stevens, Peter Gabriel and Daryl Hall and John Oates were also inducted into the Hall of Fame at the concert.