Cissy Houston, her mother, said: "I'm so very, very proud that Whitney is being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

"She wanted to be something - not anything. She worked hard at it, too."

Pat Houston, her manager and sister-in-law, also revealed that being inducted into the Hall of Fame was always an ambition for the late star.

Pat shared: "This is something Whitney always wanted.

"I remember in 2009, we were in London. Whitney looked at me and she said, 'This is really special, but there's only one thing missing: I've got to get the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.' This moment right now proves it all: there's only one matchless Whitney Houston, and tonight, she would be very proud and honoured to receive this award."

Elsewhere, the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. was inducted into the Hall of Fame, too.

His children T'yanna, 27, and CJ, 24, accepted the award on behalf of the hip-hop icon, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1997.

T'yanna said: "When my dad passed away, I was only three years old. Even though I didn't get to know him as well as I wanted, through his fans and our family, I was able to see with my own eyes that his music transcended the hip-hop industry.

"He was able to become not only the 'King of New York,' but the king of the culture."

CJ described his dad as "one of the founding fathers of hip-hop".

He added: "He helped revolutionise what was a young artform for the black community and the world. I'm honoured to share his name and his dedication to black music, creativity, self-expression and black freedom."

This year's induction class also included Nine Inch Nails, the Doobie Brothers, Depeche Mode, and T. Rex.

St. Vincent paid tribute to Nine Inch Nails, saying they helped to popularise their brand of music.

Speaking about their cultural influence, she explained: "Nine Inch Nails came out of the industrial scene of the 80s and made heavy, corrosive, industrial goth music massively popular, and made it something that suburban kids were wearing T-shirts of."

Meanwhile, Billy Gibbons paid tribute to Depeche Mode.

He said: "They've done a wonderful job seeing things that we may not have seen before and listening to things that we had yet to hear."