PHOTOS: America Inducted Into Hollywood Walk of Fame

The rock band America — honored for such iconic hits as Horse With No Name, Ventura Highway, Sister Golden Hair and Tin Man — received the 2,459th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday.

"It's hard to believe that it was 40 years ago this year that we first played a show here, down at the Whiskey A Go-Go and shortly after that, moved to Hollywood to establish ourselves here in the music community at the ripe old age of 20," said Dewey Bunnell, who was joined in speaking at the late-morning ceremony in front of The Musicians Institute on Hollywood Boulevard by the other surviving founding member of the group, Gerry Beckley, and actors John Stamos and Billy Bob Thornton.

"Hollywood will always be the place where things come together in the entertainment business and we're glad we found our way here. A star on Hollywood Boulevard is the the ultimate great Hollywood tribute, one that Gerry and I truly share with so many people, not the least of which is our departed founding member, Dan Peek."

The band's star is located at 6752 Hollywood Boulevard.

Beckley, Bunnell and Peek met as students at London Central High School, a school for children of U.S. armed forces personnel, and decided to form a band, which they named America. Its first of 16 studio albums, America, released in 1971, hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts and went platinum on the strength of Horse With No Name.

America won the best new artist Grammy for 1972, beating out the Eagles, Harry Chapin, John Prine and the duo of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina.

America was also nominated for that year's Grammy for best pop, folk and rock vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus for "Horse With No Name," losing out to "Where Is the Love" by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway.

Peek quit the group in 1977 and died July 24 at the age of 60.

America remains very active, performing in more than 100 live shows a years. In 2011, it released the CD Back Pages, its interpretations of some of its favorite songs.

Monday's ceremony came one day before Beckley and Bunnell appear at a sold-out program at The Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles, performing an acoustic set and answering questions from the audience.