Everything That Happened At The 2024 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony
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The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inducted its 2024 class with a five-and-half-hour all-star ceremony at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday night. Of the 15 acts nominated for the honor in 2024 Eric B. & Rakim, Mariah Carey, Jane’s Addiction, Lenny Kravitz, Oasis, Sinéad O’Connor, and Sade will have to wait at least another year. Here’s who did earn “Music’s Highest Honor” tonight…
Cher, who’d never appeared on the ballot before this year and said in December that the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame could go fuck itself, was first up. (David Geffen wrote a letter to the Rock Hall board on her behalf before the nominations were announced.) Zendaya made the introductory remarks, and in her own speech Cher credited herself with “[changing] the sound of music forever.” With house band the Roots, Dua Lipa sang Cher’s #1 hit “Believe” and was joined mid-song by the Goddess Of Pop herself who also performed “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
Kool & The Gang were first eligible for the Hall 30 years ago, and Public Enemy’s Chuck D called it “a long-overdue celebration” in his induction speech. (An artist is eligible 25 years after the release of their first commercial recording.) The ’70s and ’80s hitmakers performed a medley of their hits “Hollywood Swinging,” “Get Down On it,” “Ladies’ Night,” “Jungle Boogie,” and “Celebration.” Robert Bell, James “J.T.” Taylor, Claydes Smith, Richard Westfield, Robert Mickens, George Brown, Ronald Bell, and Dennis Thomas were the members of the R&B/funk group inducted; the latter three had passed away in recent years.
Foreigner were first eligible in 2002 and last summer vocalist Lou Gramm blamed their decades of snubs on “a personal vendetta between the gentleman who owns Rolling Stone and Mick [Jones, the band’s guitarist].” Weeks later that gentleman was removed from the Rock Hall’s board after widely condemned comments about Black and women musicians (he later apologized) and now the band can collect their trophies. Foreigner’s admission into the Hall Of Fame came on the heels of public testimonials by members like Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Slash, and Chad Smith — all commissioned by superproducer Mark Ronson, stepson of Foreigner co-founder Jones and a former Rolling Stone intern, incidentally. Jones was not on hand tonight, though, as he revealed earlier this year that he is battling Parkinson’s. Drummer Dennis Elliott didn’t attend either, reportedly because his wife was not invited to walk the red carpet. Lou Gramm made to trip to Cleveland, however, and he joined Kelly Clarkson and Foreigner’s touring lineup to perform the band’s biggest hit “I Want To Know What Love Is,” a Hot 100 chart-topper in 1985. It was his first performance with Foreigner since the classic rockers’ Long Island concert in 2017, though he has continued to play solo shows. Before that Demi Lovato sang “Feels Like The First Time” and Sammy Hagar did “Hot Blooded.” (Hagar was inducted with Van Halen in 2007. Lovato will be eligible in 2033.) The aforementioned Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Smith joined the musicians on all three songs. The other Foreigner members inducted were Ian McDonald, Al Greenwood, Ed Gagliardi, and Rick Wills.
Former Humble Pie member Peter Frampton was first eligible to be inducted as a solo artist in 1997 and this was his first year as a nominee. “I kind of thought it was never gonna happen,” the British guitarist said on the red carpet before the show. He performed “Baby (Somethin’s Happening)” (from his 1974 album) and “Do You Feel Like We Do” (one of the hit singles from the blockbuster Frampton Comes Alive!) with his talk box and Mk.gee fan Keith Urban. The Who’s Roger Daltrey delivered the speech inducting Frampton and said, “He’s always been a restless soul, but he stayed true to his main love, the guitar.” The guitarist suffers from the degenerative muscle disease Inclusion-Body Myositis and wrapped up a farewell tour in 2022, but returned to the road last summer with the Never Say Never Tour. He was most recently in the news for beefing with Megadeth.
The sole rap act to be honored tonight was A Tribe Called Quest.
After the group’s snub last year, rapper Consequence called out the Hall Of Fame for continuing to pass them over, calling the institution “a white popularity contest.” Tribe were inducted by Dave Chappelle and saluted with a performance from a crew of fellow ‘90s hip-hop icons. Queen Latifah kicked things off with “Can I Kick It?” alongside the Roots’ Black Thought and De La Soul’s Posdnous before Common joined for “Bonita Applebum.” And Busta Rhymes rapped “Scenario,” the classic 1992 posse cut his old group Leaders Of The New School recorded with the honorees. ATCQ’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad did not attend the event and Phife Dawg passed away in 2016. The remaining members Q-Tip and Jarobi White accepted on the group’s behalf.
The Queen Of Hip-Hop Soul Mary J. Blige was inducted after first being eligible in 2017 and first being nominated in 2021. She was introduced by Dr. Dre and Method Man and sang “My Life” with Lucky Daye and “Love No Limit” with Ella Mai before running through “Be Happy” and the Dre-produced “Family Affair” (a #1 hit in 2001). She previously inducted Nina Simone back in 2018 and accepting her award tonight she said, “This whole time I was building to be a rockstar and now I am.” Blige has a new album coming November 15 called Gratitude.
Ozzy Osbourne was already a member of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, having entered with Black Sabbath in 2006 after over a decade of eligibility. As a solo artist he released 13 studio albums and yesterday he announced a $600 18xLP box set highlighting that catalog. Jack Black (who has covered Sabbath’s “Crazy Train” with the currently-on-hold Tenacious D) gave the induction speech. “He invented a genre [and] had the greatest second act come back in rock history,” declared the actor before saying that Osbourne popularizing reality TV was “maybe the most evil thing he ever did.” Osbourne has been dealing with Parkinson’s and other health problems and did not perform, but he watched on as a bunch of rockers paid tribute. Maynard James Keenan sang “Crazy Train” with Wolfgang Van Halen on guitar. (“This song is out of my range, so I’m going to be struggling to hit the notes but I got the call so I answered,” the Tool frontman said earlier this week.) The omnipresent Jelly Roll, who is battling Charli XCX for next week’s #1 album, took on “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” and Billy Idol sang “No More Tears.” Osbourne’s band members Zakk Wylde (guitar) and Adam Wakeman (keyboards) performed too, as did his onetime bassist now Metallica member Robert Trujillo, plus producer/guitarist Andrew Watt, Idol’s guitarist Steve Stevens, and returning RHCP member Smith. “If I’d hadn’t have met Randy Rhoads, I don’t think I’d be sitting here now,” Osbourne said in his speech about his late guitarist and co-songwriter who died in 1982 and was inducted in the Musical Excellence category in 2021.
Wolfgang Van Halen, Robert Trujillo, Chad Smith, Maynard James Keenan, Andrew Watt, Zakk Wylde, Jelly Roll, Billy Idol and Steve Stevens yesterday performing "Crazy Train" at the Ozzy Osbourne tribute at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Simply amazing. pic.twitter.com/vzksirEXh8
— Rock History (@historyrock_) October 20, 2024
Dave Matthews Band closed out the ceremony and were inducted by a Dave-t-shirt-wearing Julia Roberts, who as I’m sure you know starred in their 2005 video for the song “Dreamgirl.” Dave Matthews, Carter Beauford, Stefan Lessard, LeRoi Moore, and Boyd Tinsley were the five founding members inducted. Saxophonist Moore passed away in 2008 after an ATV accident and violinist Tinsley split with the group a decade later amid sexual harassment allegations against him. The Charlottesville, VA jam band won the fan vote in 2020 but didn’t make it onto the ballot that year, the first time that had ever happened since the public was asked to vote in 2013. (The top five artists chosen in the fan vote are submitted as a single ballot, so the public’s choice never carries that much weight.) DMB topped the fan vote again in 2024 and this time they got in. They played “Ants Marching” (from their 1994 breakthrough Under The Table And Dreaming) plus “Crash Into Me,” “So Much To Say,” and “Too Much” — the singles from their 1996 followup LP Crash. As an encore they did “Burning Down The House,” covering the Talking Heads hit for the first time since 2018.
Those were the inductees in the Performer category. Also entering the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame tonight were Big Mama Thornton, Alexis Korner, and John Mayall in the Musical Influence category; the MC5, Dionne Warwick, Jimmy Buffett, and Norman Whitfield in the Musical Excellence category; and Motown executive Suzanne de Passe as recipient of the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
Tom Morello, who was the only Rage Against The Machine member to show up when the band was inducted last year, gave the speech inducting MC5. Friday saw the release of Heavy Lifting, the band’s first album in 53 years, though guitarist Wayne Kramer and drummer Dennis Thompson both passed away earlier this year. Backstage Morello told the media, “I’d like to see the organization go get Iron fucking Maiden in.”
Teyana Taylor inducted Warwick, who sang “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” with Jennifer Hudson as well as “Walk On By,” which Doja Cat sampled on a #1 hit last year.
The late Jimmy Buffett was inducted by Matthews, who reprised his “A Pirate Looks At Forty” cover, and by Kenny Chesney, James Taylor, and Mac McAnally with a take on “Come Monday.” “He was larger than life, but somehow at the same time, always right-sized, and always authentic,” Taylor said in his speech.
The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony aired live on Disney+ and will be available to watch on Hulu. Congrats to all of this year’s inductees and to Flavor Flav for getting social content with every celebrity in Cleveland.
@flavorflav Julia Roberts,,, she knew whi i was and some how I’m still alive.
