2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction: The Best Moments

The thirty ninth annual Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame induction ceremony turned Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, right into a “celebration” Saturday night time as Kool & the Gang, Dave Matthews Band, Mary J. Blige, A Tribe Known as Quest and Cher confirmed as much as settle for inductions from Chuck D, Julia Roberts, Technique Man, Dr. Dre, Dave Chappelle and Zendaya. 

The occasion returned to the hometown of the Rock & Roll Museum for the primary time since 2021. This yr’s prime music-industry honor within the performer class went to Mary J. Blige, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne and A Tribe Known as Quest. Musical Excellence Award honorees included Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield; Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Massive Mama Thornton obtained the Musical Affect Award. Motown government Suzanne de Passe obtained the Ahmet Ertegun Award — the fifth lady to just accept the accolade.

4 out of the eight inductees within the performer class have been on the poll for the primary time: Cher, Foreigner, Kool & the Gang and Peter Frampton. 

“We’re swimming in deep water right here,” says Matthews of the category of 2024. 

The five-and-a-half-hour ceremony intertwined transferring speeches and profession spotlight reels with performances that repeatedly introduced the packed home to its ft. The occasion’s momentum builds across the shock of who will carry out with whom. This yr featured a mashup of inductees and people following of their iconic footsteps as Dua Lipa joined Cher, and Ella Mai and Fortunate Daye each dueted with Mary J. Blige. Kelly Clarkson, Demi Lovato, Chad Smith, Slash and Sammy Hagar fashioned a Foreigner supergroup, as did James Taylor, Mac McAnally and Kenny Chesney, to pay tribute to their late pal Jimmy Buffet. Smith returned for the Ozzy Osbourne induction, taking part in with Maynard James Keenan, Jelly Roll, Billy Idol and extra. Jack Black did the honors for Osbourne, who took all of it in from a “bat” chair.

Under are the highest moments from the 2024 Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame induction, streaming now on Disney+ and airing Jan. 1 on ABC.

Cher’s Change of Coronary heart 

To kick begin the night, Dua Lipa took the stage in an extended black leather-based gown hinged with delicate chains over fishnet stockings, belting Cher’s anthem “Imagine.” Then Cher, in leather-based chaps, joined Dua, and the duo linked fingers triumphantly, hitting the refrain of the 1998 comeback tune. Zendaya delivered Cher’s induction speech in a Bob Mackie nude-illusion halter gown that channeled one of many icon’s basic appears to be like from 1975. The actress stated of the famous person, who had not obtained a Corridor of Fame nomination till this yr, “Cher has bought the products,” drawing eyes to the stat that Cher is the one solo artist to have a No. 1 hit in every of the final seven many years and calling her “the best lady on the planet.” Cher’s video tribute reel featured soundbites from Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper and Pink.

Cher started her acceptance speech by addressing the elephant within the room: “It was simpler getting divorced from two males than it was getting within the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame.” She has been outspoken about being ignored for thus a few years by the group, telling Kelly Clarkson in 2022, “I wouldn’t be in it now in the event that they gave me 1,000,000 {dollars}.”

She had a change of coronary heart and thanked David Geffen for taking the award to the end line: “I wish to thank my guardian, David Geffen, as a result of he wrote a letter and despatched it to the administrators, and so right here I’m. Thanks, David. Thanks for caring a lot about me.”

All through the handle, her theme was resilience. She detailed her profession’s ups and downs and maintained a way of satisfaction and self-worth not primarily based on being the prettiest, smartest or most gifted within the room.

“I’m speaking to the ladies,” she added. “We’ve been down and out, and we preserve striving and we preserve going and we preserve constructing and we’re any individual. We’re particular.”

Chuck D’s Kool-Pentameter

The Public Enemy frontman inducted a gaggle lengthy ignored by the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame, Kool & the Gang. D’s speech was pure poetry in “Kool” rhythm, a soulful, funky riff of verbal reward. 

He famous that “few artists have been sampled by hip-hop producers greater than Kool & the Gang” and “let or not it’s identified: it is a long-overdue celebration,” noting that “Y’all know the deal, birthdays, weddings, sports activities, championships. Y’all know the drill … The get all the way down to the get all the way down to the get down on it … I’m simply saying that hey, hey, hey, good job is at all times on our minds, inside wild and peaceable jobs. To the get all the way down to the jungle boogie, get all the way down to the one down and jungle boogie, say ‘uh!’ I needed to rap on that file. And if that wasn’t sufficient, there was extra funky stuff.” 

Mark Ronson, Lionel Richie, Usher and Anderson. Paak participated within the video introduction.

Representing Kool & the Gang, James J.T. Taylor and Robert ‘Kool’ Bell carried out “Get Down on It,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Hollywood Swinging,” “Women’ Evening” and “Celebration.”

Dionne Warwick Calls Teyana Taylor Her “Alter Ego”

Teyana Taylor, who will play Dionne Warwick in an upcoming biopic, graced the stage in a glance paying homage to the star from the Nineteen Sixties with a bee-hive hairdo and olive-color empire-waist tasseled robe.

“It wasn’t till I bought the position of a lifetime to play her within the upcoming biopic that I got here to grasp the depths of her expertise,” Taylor says. “She has achieved an unbelievable service to the world along with her music,” calling “Don’t Make Me Over” an anthem for girls internationally and recognizing that Warwick bumped The Beatles off of the charts. 

“Ms Warwick didn’t come to play, interval,” Taylor says. “What the world wants now’s love, candy love, however what it actually wants is extra of Ms. Dionne Warwick.” 

Jennifer Hudson sang “I’ll By no means Love This Manner Once more” and was joined by Warwick, who additionally sang “Stroll On By.”

When Warwick accepted her award from Taylor, she stated that “her alter ego is with me tonight.” 

The Foreigner Tremendous Group

You possibly can at all times rely on the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame Induction ceremony to unite musicians in surprising methods, and 2024 didn’t disappoint on this entrance as Demi Lovato, Chad Smith, Slash, Sammy Hagar and Kelly Clarkson all got here collectively to jam for Foreigner within the absence of Mick Jones and Dennis Elliott. Lovato sang “Feels Like The First Time,” Hagar took on “Sizzling Blooded,” and Clarkson duetted “I Need To Know What Love Is” with Lou Gramm. Jones’ daughter accepted the induction on behalf of her dad, who stopped performing with Foreigner when he was identified with Parkinson’s in 2022.

Peter Frampton Will get Roasted and Rocks

Roger Daltrey turned his speech about Peter Frampton right into a roast, poking on the rock god’s lack of prior nominations, beginning his speech with, “I used to be astonished this man wasn’t inducted 35 years in the past.” He then shared that early on, Pete Townshend joked that packs of screaming ladies had mistaken Daltrey for Frampton and Townshend for Tiny Tim. earlier than giving him a ribbing over his limitless farewell excursions. Frampton jammed with Keith City on “Do You Really feel Like We Do,” which was essentially the most vital guitar second of the night time. 

On the present’s finish, Matthews included Frampton in his acceptance speech, telling the guitarist, “I feel the world of you.”

Widespread, De La Soul, Queen Latifah and Busta Rhymes Ship the Efficiency of the Evening in Honor of A Tribe Known as Quest

It started when Dave Chappelle took the mic to share arguably essentially the most transferring induction of the night. He advised the gang that when he was having a troublesome time, he learn a Chinese language proverb that reminded him of his buddies in A Tribe Known as Quest and the deep which means of their friendship. “The perfect meal you may cook dinner is made with substances that you have already got,” he stated. 

Chappelle went on to say, “Being within the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame is just not one thing {that a} Black child in New York in 1985 would ever even think about to dream of. And I don’t consider that was ever the purpose of A Tribe Known as Quest. They met on a practice. They met in school. They performed basketball collectively. … They simply used what that they had. And the very first thing that they had was one another, as buddies.” 

He credit them with “incorporating jazz and soul in a manner that hip-hop had by no means seen earlier than them.”

Pulling a truth out of the rock historical past ebook, he shared that Crimson Sizzling Chili Peppers’ “Blood Sugar Intercourse Magik,” Nirvana’s “Nevermind” and Tribe’s “Low-Finish Principle” have been all launched on the identical day, September 24, 1991. He additionally praised them for being cool however not gangster—which sparked a brand new period for hip-hop.

Q-Tip and Jarobi White have been current with late member Phife Dawg’s dad and mom and spouse, whereas fourth member Ali Shaheed Muhammad was not in attendance. All of them gave speeches earlier than the ’80s-’90s hip-hop collective, Native Tongues, that includes Busta Rhymes, The Roots, Queen Latifah, De La Soul and Widespread, paid tribute to their cohorts with “Situation,” “Bonita Applebum,” and “Can I Kick It?” Rhymes’ “Situation” drove the gang to its ft within the title of affection for hip-hop.

Mary J. Blige’s Mutal Admiration with Dr. Dre and Technique Man

Dr Dre and Technique Man did the honors for Mary J Blige, who sang “Love No Restrict,” “Be Comfortable” and “Household Affair” in collaboration with up-and-comers Fortunate Daye and Ella Mai. Blige was dripping in leather-based, latex and glittering stones in a glance that learn queen from prime to toe. Dre credited Blige with creating a completely new style of music along with her breakthrough album, “What’s the 411?” Blige then shared her respect for Technique Man and Dre for serving to her obtain GRAMMY and EMMY wins with their collaborative initiatives, the 1995’s Finest Rap Efficiency By A Duo Or Group for “I’ll Be There For You / You’re All I Want To Get By,” and the 2022 Tremendous Bowl Halftime present, respectively.

 Julia Roberts Advises Don’t Google David Matthews

To shut the night time, the Dave Matthews Band carried out all their greatest hits after “tremendous fan” Julia Roberts’s induction, throughout which she shared a Google search gone fallacious.

“Don’t Google David Matthews,” sharing that she stumbled upon a horrible story that the fallacious Dave Matthew was a person in New Zealand in his sixties who had suffered from a stroke.

Then, she discovered the proper particular person … “Googled on to find — oh, buddies with Adam Sandler didn’t know that there was no point out of — anyway, he and Ashley have a vineyard, cool label, good value level. Didn’t know. After which it reads, ‘When did Dave Matthews come out?’ However that refers to when the band first got here out, as you understand, a band. So these items occur once you title the band after your self.”

In one of many night time’s greatest surprises, DMB wrapped up the night with “Burning Down the Home,” a tribute to the Speaking Heads 1983 album Talking in Tongues.

To be thought-about for a Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame nomination, an artist or band will need to have launched its first industrial recording at the very least 25 years earlier than the yr of nomination.