The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony took place last night at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The event was simulcast on SiriusXM, and a televised version of it will air at a later date on HBO, but the class of 2022 have officially been ushered into the institution.
Those inductees include Dolly Parton, Eminem, Pat Benatar, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie, and Carly Simon. All of those except Benatar and Eurythmics were first-time nominees this year. Also inducted were Judas Priest and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, who both received the Musical Excellence Award; Harry Belafonte and Elizabeth Cotten, who received the Early Influence Award; and Sylvia Robinson, Jimmy Iovine, and Allen Grubman, who received the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
"I’m a rock star now!" Parton said during her speech, after initially expressing some discomfort at the idea of accepting a rock award. "Back when they said they were going to induct me into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I didn’t really think that I’d done enough to deserve that. I didn’t understand at the time. But this is a very, very special night for me."
Parton was inducted by Pink, who covered "Coat Of Many Colors" with Brandi Carlile. Sheryl Crow covered Parton's "9 To 5" with Zac Brown, Parton also sang a new song called "Rockin," which was written for the induction ceremony, and performed "Jolene" with Rob Halford, Simon Le Bon, Carlile, Eurythmics, Pat Benatar, and more.
Eminem was inducted by Dr. Dre. "He was able to hold a mirror up to white America while also expressing pain through poverty," Dre said. "Eminem brought hip-hop to Middle America and offered kids who looked like him a way to connect to it. Hip-hop wasn’t just for Black kids in desperate inner-city circumstances anymore." Em performed a few of his own songs with the help of some friends, including Steven Tyler on "Sing For The Moment" (recreating the "Dream On" Aerosmith sample) and Ed Sheeran for "Stan." He also did his verse from Drake's "Forever."
https://youtube.com/watch?v=8z7LbFaYh84
Duran Duran were inducted by Robert Downey Jr. During their portion of the night, Simon Le Bon read a letter from the band's former guitarist Andy Taylor, who revealed that he could not attend the event because he is battling stage 4 prostate cancer.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=N8Jp2m9D4ec
Sara Bareilles inducted Carly Simon, who did not attend the ceremony after two of her sisters died a day apart after battling cancer last month. Bareilles covered "Nobody Does It Better" and "You're So Vain" -- she brought out Olivia Rodrigo for the latter.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=GnTNp_2hW1g
Eurythmics were inducted by The Edge. "It was passed over a single because RCA didn’t think it had a chorus," the Edge said of their hit single "Sweet Dreams." "The track got so much radio play that it eventually was released, aided by one of the most iconic music videos of the whole MTV era. And it was a smash hit all over the world. Their sweet dreams finally met reality." They reunited to performed three of their own tracks: "Would I Lie To You?," "Missionary Man," and, of course, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)."
https://youtube.com/watch?v=HYOKAY000EQ
Lionel Richie was inducted by Lenny Kravitz. "His songs are the soundtrack of my life, your life and everyone’s life," Kravitz said during his speech. "Lionel’s songbook is rich and beautifully diverse. To name all his brilliant songs would take, well, ‘All Night Long.'" Richie performed a handful of songs, including the Commodores' "Easy" with Dave Grohl on guitar.
Benatar was inducted by Sheryl Crow, and she performed "All Fired Up," "Love Is A Battlefield" with Neil Giraldo, and "Heartbreaker." "First, I want to say that all is forgiven," Benatar said when introducing her speech, referencing the many times she's been on the ballot but never inducted. "I want to thank all our fans for graciously joining us on this 43-year journey. It has been an incredible ride."
Janet Jackson inducted her collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. "I feel like we broke through the music industry together," she said. "They taught me so much and I learned their lessons well."
And Judas Priest were inducted by Alice Cooper and performed their first set with K. K. Downing in over a decade, and their first with Les Binks since 1979.
The show's finale was Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp covering "Great Balls Of Fire" by the late Jerry Lee Lewis -- Lewis was part of the first Rock Hall inductee class in 1986.
Check out some photos from the night below.
