LOS ANGELES (KNX) – The 37th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony honored a diverse group of musicians inside the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles Saturday night.
This year’s class stem from a myriad of musical genres, including new wave, soft rock, R&B, hip-hop and country. Rock and Roll Hall Fame President and CEO Greg Harris said that while rock n roll at time is just “four guys with guitars”, it is also “an inclusive art form.”
The inductions kicked off with Duran Duran. Following a speech by actor Robert Downey Jr., Duran Duran took the stage to perform “Girls on Film” when they stopped after a couple minutes due to technical difficulties.
“Just had to prove to you we weren’t lip synching,” lead singer Simon Le Bon joked to the crowd.
The band restarted the song and then followed it with “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Ordinary World.”
Following their performance, Le Bon read a letter from their original guitarist, Andy Taylor, in which it was revealed Taylor had stage four metastatic prostrate cancer.
Production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were inducted by fellow Hall of Fame inductee Janet Jackson (who worked with the duo on her hit 1986 album 'Control').
"A Jimmy and Terry production is an act of love," Jackson said in her speech.
Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo were inducted by Sheryl Crow, who maintained that Benatar could “rock as hard as any man could.” The couple followed their induction with performances of “All Fired Up”, “Love is a Battlefield” and “Heartbreaker.”
Up next was Judas Priest, who rocker and fellow Hall of Famer Alice Cooper said “defined the sound we call heavy-metal” and compared their sound to “an L.A. earthquake.” The band performed “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming,” “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.”
While Carly Simon did not appear for her induction due to “personal tragedy”, musician Sara Bareilles read a letter from Simon herself who said she was “humbled, shocked, proud, overachieved and underqualified and singularly grateful" by her induction. Bareilles performed “Nobody Does It Better” while Olivia Rodrigo took on the iconic Simon hit, “You’re So Vain.”
After his induction by Lenny Kravitz, Lionel Richie kicked off his medley with a dramatic version of “Hello” before going into “Easy” (with a surprise guitar solo by Dave Grohl and ending with “All Night Long.” In his speech, Richie gave thanks to the Commodores, noting without them, “there’s no Lionel Richie.”
Eurythmics then took the stage following an introduction by U2’s The Edge. After a medley that included “Would I Lie to You”, “Missionary Man”, and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart credited their success to their beliefs in themselves and each other.
“Thank you Dave for this great adventure,” Lennox told Stewart in her speech.
The next to be induction was Eminem, who told the crowd in his speech he wasn’t supposed to be here because one, “I’m a rapper and this is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." In his medley, Eminem reminded the crowd who he was in “My Name Is”, showed off his “supersonic speed” in “Rap God”, and performed “Sing for the Moment” with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler (whose “Dream On” is sampled in “Sing For the Moment”) and “Stan” with Ed Sheeran, as well as his verse in “Forever” and “Not Afraid.”
Singer and activist Harry Belafonte was also inducted into the Rock Hall, but was absent from the ceremony. Belafonte, as well as Elizabeth Cotton, were inducted for Early Influence.
Throughout the night, talent behind the music were also inducted into the Rock Hall, including music executive Jimmy Iovine, entertainment lawyer Allen Grubman and Sylvia Robinson. Iovine, Grubman and Robinson received the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
Last (but certainly not least), Dolly Parton was inducted by Pink, who said Parton, “painted a picture and colored in the words with her angelic voice.”
Parton, who initially rejected the nomination, took the stage and declared, “I’m a rockstar now!” She also said that because she’s been voted in, she’ll have to make a rock album now and that she wrote a rock song to perform for the occasion.
But before Parton performed, Brandi Carlisle and Pink sang “Coat of Many Colors” while Sheryl Crow and Zac Brown took on “9 to 5.”
Parton returned, following a costume change, and performed her new song, which included tributes to Elvis Presley and the late Jerry Lee Lewis.
The show closed with the night’s diverse group of inductees and performers joining Parton on stage to plead to Jolene “please don’t take my man.”
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