Can one million Bon Jovi fans possibly be wrong?

The formerly huge-haired New Jersey group leads the 2018 class of inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the organization announced on Wednesday, an accomplishment that may have at one time been thought impossible. Long a commercial juggernaut, if scoffed at by music snobs, Bon Jovi also won the Rock Hall’s fan poll, receiving more than a million public votes, which counts as a single vote in the overall judging.

Asked about its inclusion, Jon Bon Jovi, the band’s lead singer, stammered a bit. “Well. I mean … we’re very happy about it,” he said in an interview. “And um, you know. It’s great.” He paused. “I really want to say it’s about time,” he added, using a colorful adjective omitted here.

The band will be inducted along with Nina Simone, the Cars, Dire Straits, the Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who will receive an Award for Early Influence, at the 33rd induction ceremony on April 14 at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland; the show will be broadcast later by HBO and SiriusXM.