Beastie Boys Announced as 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees

It seems like just yesterday that they were urging us to fight for our right to party. Now — as of this morning (Dec. 7), in fact — the Beastie Boys are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s latest inductees.

The Beasties join Guns N’ Roses, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Laura Nyro, and Donovan in the Hall’s Class of 2012, along with blues legend and British rock heroes the Faces, whose pianist Ian McLagan greeted the news by quipping that “there’s going to be some rock ‘n’ roll up on that stage” when the induction ceremony takes place in April.

The Hall of Fame concert will prove a poignant triumph for the Beastie Boys — not only because few would have pegged them for the honor when they topped the charts with 1986′s ‘License to Ill,’ but because they haven’t taken the stage since Adam “MCA” Yauch announced his cancer diagnosis in 2009.

The trio, which is celebrating its 32nd year as a group, was originally nominated for the Hall in 2007, which should come as comfort to the nominees passed over for this year’s class — a group that includes the Cure, Joan Jett, Heart, and pioneering hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim.