REM - REM, PATTI SMITH + VAN HALEN SET FOR HALL OF FAME

REM, PATTI SMITH + VAN HALEN SET FOR HALL OF FAME

REM, PATTI SMITH and VAN HALEN have been named among the Class of 2007 as the Rock + Roll Hall of Fame names its latest inductees. The RONETTES and rap pioneers GRANDMASTER FLASH + THE FURIOUS FIVE will also be added to the Cleveland, Ohio museum during a ceremony at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in March (07). Atlantic Records founder AHMET ERTEGUN, the late chairman of the Hall of Fame Foundation, will also be honoured at the star-studded induction ceremony. It is not known if REM and Van Halen will perform at the induction ceremony with their original line-ups - REM drummer BILL BERRY quit the group in 1997, but reteamed with his former bandmates when they were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame last year (06). Meanwhile, Van Halen have a well-publicised awkward history of disputes between band leader EDDIE VAN HALEN and former frontman DAVID LEE ROTH. Either way, Hall of Fame induction ceremony organisers are hoping the night will be a lot smoother than it was last year (06), when the members of the SEX PISTOLS refused to show up and the original BLONDIE line-up bickered onstage.