ALICE COOPER Confirms ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME Induction

According to The Arizona Republic, legendary rocker Alice Cooper has confirmed that will finally be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at the 26th annual induction ceremony, which will be held on March 14, 2011 at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan. Also being inducted are Neil Diamond, Tom Waits, Dr. John and Darlene Love.

Cooper, 62, said Tuesday that he was notified a week ago by the Cleveland-based organization that he and his group will be part of its 26th class.

"Getting in the Hall of Fame is about the ultimate thing you can do when you're a garage band from Cortez High in Phoenix," Cooper said. "It's the most humbling thing in the world when you realize who else is in there. You look out at the audience, and every guy who influenced you is sitting there, and they are the people who voted on you."

The inductees into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2011 will be officially announced on December 15 at 10:30 a.m. EST on the RockHall.com web site.

The list of nominees for this go-round also included BON JOVI, BEASTIE BOYS, CHIC, Donovan, J GEILS BAND, LL Cool J, Laura Nyro, Donna Summer, Joe Tex and Chuck Willis.

Eligible since 1994, Cooper released the following statement in response to the announcement that he was on the shortlist of nominees for the 2011 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction:

"On behalf of Dennis (Dunaway),Neal (Smith),Michael (Bruce) and the late great Glen (Buxton),we are honored to be nominated for induction in to the Hall. Anytime you are nominated in your chosen profession, it's definitely a compliment to be recognized.

"It's hard to fathom possibly being in the same club as artists who inspired us originally, like THE BEATLES, THE [ROLLING] STONES, THE BEACH BOYS, THE WHO, THE YARDBIRDS, and Chuck Berry, and to be nominated the same year as legendary artists like my personal favorite songwriter of all time, Laura Nyro, as well as Donovan, who sang on our 'Billion Dollar Babies' record, and our good friends in Bon Jovi, is a great feeling.

"Five guys starting a band, just hoping to meet girls and drink free beer, rehearsing and playing local bars five hours a night for the first few years — that was us. We came up with the theatrics and made every effort not to sacrifice the music one bit; we thought it was like our job to bring theatrics to rock 'n' roll. And then, amazingly enough, we were having a bunch of massive hit records which was proof that theatricality and rock 'n' roll could, in fact, be joined successfully. We've been told that we revolutionized the live concert experience and if that's truly the case and it's led to this nomination for induction into the Hall of Fame, the only thing to say is, of course, 'There's no business like show business!'"

To be eligible for nomination into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, an act must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. This year's nominees had to release their first single no later than 1985.

Ballots were sent to more than 500 voters, who selected the artists to be inducted at the induction ceremony, which will be televised live on Fuse.