Report: Rock Hall to welcome Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits

Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Dr. John and Darlene Love will be inducted as the class of 2011 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, according to the industry website Hitsdailydouble.com.

The publication reported the names of the winners over the weekend. An official announcement of the Rock Hall winners is scheduled for Wednesday (12/15). The 26th annual induction ceremony will be held March 14 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

The rules state that this year's nominees had to release their first single no later than 1985. Since all of the reported new inductees except Waits were active in the 1960s, their induction can be viewed as either overdue or a reflection of a diminishing eligibility requirements.

To an artist, however, each of the reported new inductees has grown in stature over the last two decades -- Diamond and Waits as songwriters, Dr. John as a pianistic musicologist, Copper as a pioneering showman and Love as the definitive voice in Phil Spector's early '60s empire.

Among this year's Rock Hall nominees, newcomers who will have to wait until 2012 for another shot include Bon Jovi, LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys. Veteran acts that just can't seem to convince the voters continue to be Laura Nyro, Chic and Donna Summer.