| 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
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Happy 2024 from W♥M!
We’re humbled and thankful for another year out on the worldwide web (since 2007!) and were proud to have brought you coverage just over 250 shows and events! That total approaches some of our pre-pandemic years like in 2015 when we covered an average of almost one per day and 2024 is already shaping up to be a very busy year as well.
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One of the events we managed to attend was this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, a true end-of-year music highlight.
The ceremony (which rotates locations between Brooklyn, Cleveland, and Los Angeles) was as noteworthy for the inductee absences (Kate Bush, Rage Against the Machine) as much as for those who did show, and the ceremony was one of the shorter ones in history (with no end jam), perhaps because it was streaming live on Disney+ for the first time.
An abbreviated version will be broadcast on January 1 on ABC at 8pm/7pm Central, streaming next day on Hulu, with the original 4 ½ hour broadcast still archived on Disney+ for their subscribers.
The evening opened strong with Sheryl Crow dueting with Olivia Rodrigo and Stevie Nicks with Laura Dern doing the induction duties before Peter Frampton joined onstage.
The godfather of hip-hop, DJ Kool Herc was visibly moved by his induction, following a passionate speech from LL Cool J.
Chaka Khan was also excited and in fine voice, singing alongside Common, H.E.R., and a still-big wigged Sia, before bringing up her Rufus band mate, to acknowledge the band’s essential contribution to her fifty-year career.
Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley appeared to posthumously induct George Michael, with musical tributes from Miguel feat Jake Clemons, a trench coat-clad Adam Levine, and Country’s Carrie Underwood, an unexpectedly diehard fan of Michael.
A breathlessly exciting in-step tribute from New Edition helped induct The Spinners and Soul Train creator Don Cornelius.
Longtime super fan Big Boi from Outkast inducted no-show Kate Bush, who was paid tribute by St. Vincent, who sang a note-perfect version of “Running Up That Hill”, a thirty-five-year-old hit which found new life on Netflix series, “Stranger Things” (which undoubtedly helped with her voting totals).
90-year-old legend Willie Nelson was given proper royal treatment, singing alongside Chris Stapleton, Dave Matthews, and Sheryl Crow, who all stuck around with Elton John and Brittany Howard to pay tribute to the departed Robbie Robertson with a Band classic song.
Guitarist Jimmy Page was perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening, first appearing on-screen paying homage to innovator Link Wray, before the screen rose to reveal Page himself.
Elton John was present to induct his longtime lyrical collaborator Bernie Taupin, who spoke of diversity and change in his speech, with Elton then playing just one of their many classics.
The ever-political Rage Against the Machine also decided not to appear, except for guitarist Tom Morello, who realized how to use the platform to enunciate the band’s message after their induction by Ice-T, with the most soulful and call-to-action speech of the evening, but the band went without any musical tribute (even though side group Prophets of Rage members were present and rappers like Denzel Curry and Machine Gun Kelly have done worthy cover versions).
If the scale of the stage performance was any barometer of how grateful an artist was to be inducted, Missy Elliott would win that, hands down, with a massive medley performance featuring countless dancers, special effects and routines. Elliott herself was emotionally overcome as Queen Latifah inducted the first female hip-hop artist into the Hall.
(click on any image to see in full / pictures shot without any provided media access)
| JohnC ♥ johnc@weheartmusic.com ♥ X / twitter.com |
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