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Whitney Houston and T Rex singer Marc Bolan inducted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame years after their death

<p>Whitney Houston performing at the Brit Awards in 1999</p> (PA)

Whitney Houston performing at the Brit Awards in 1999

(PA)

Whitney Houston and T Rex’s Marc Bolan will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame years after their deaths.

Houston, who died in 2012 aged 48, released her debut album in 1985 and became one of the greatest singers in music history.

The death of Bolan in 1977 ended British band T Rex, known primarily for its 1970s hit Bang A Gong (Get It On).

Artists become eligible for induction to the Rock Hall 25 years after the release of their first record.

Joining Houston and Bolan, who died aged 29 in 1977, as part of the hall’s 2020 class are Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and the Doobie Brothers.

The Notorious BIG only is also on the list after releasing two albums, including Life After Death, which made a major impact on both the rap and pop music scenes. He died in 1997 at the age of 24.

The Rock Hall’s annual induction ceremony was originally supposed to take place in May at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, the city where the rock museum is located, but things changed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead, a taped television programme will be aired on Saturday night in America, with big names like Bruce Springsteen, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Alicia Keys making appearances alongside some of the inductees.

Depeche Mode are still recording after hitting the heights in the 1980s when its post-punk, synthesiser-dominated music made the UK band a favourite of the goth subculture and helped them gain success in the US.

With songs like Closer, Nine Inch Nails was a leader of the industrial rock movement in the 1990s. And the Doobie Brothers were not critical favourites, but they had some indelible rock hits in the 1970s, including Listen To The Music, Black Water and China Grove. This year they are celebrating their 50th anniversary.

Others set to make appearances during the TV special include Dave Grohl, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, Gwen Stefani, Charlize Theron, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Adam Levine and Brad Paisley. During the event, music managers Irving Azoff and Jon Landau will be honoured with the Ahmet Ertegun Award.