Eminem
The induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was held Saturday night in Los Angeles, honoring a very diverse class voted in this year. Unlike in past years, most performers and presenters were not revealed ahead of time, leading to a parade of surprises throughout the night, including Bruce Springsteen, Dr. Dre, Steven Tyler, Pink, The Edge, Brandi Carlile, Olivia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran and Alice Cooper.
Robert Downey Jr. started the show by inducting Duran Duran, who then played a mini set of just some of their songs. Original guitarist Andy Taylor was supposed to reunite with the band but released a statement that night revealing he was battling stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer and could not attend.
Janet Jackson inducted production and songwriting duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, given the Musical Excellence Award, who collaborated on numerous hits with Jackson and other R&B/Pop stars of the ’90s. The Musical Excellence Award was also given to Metal greats Judas Priest, who had never been formally inducted in the past. The band reunited with multiple past members for their induction and performance.
Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo were inducted by Sheryl Crow, and also played a set of Benatar’s smashes, including “Love is a Battlefield” and “Heartbreaker.” Carly Simon was part of the Class of 2022, but did not make the ceremony due to a pair of recent deaths in her family, and was honored by Sara Bareilles, as well as Rodrigo, who sang the classic “You’re So Vain.” Springsteen’s appearance was to induct long-time music executive Jimmy Iovine, who was given the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
Lionel Richie was inducted by Lenny Kravitz, before being joined by Dave Grohl for a performance of “Easy,” in between “Hello” and “All Night Long.” U2‘s The Edge inducted Eurythmics, a duo that has been essentially an inactive band for nearly 20 years, who also played a set of their hits.
Unsurprisingly, Eminem was inducted by his mentor Dr. Dre, who said, “He was able to hold a mirror up to white America while also expressing pain through poverty. 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,” according to Rolling Stone. Em’s medley of hits included an appearance by Steven Tyler to sing his sampled vocal from “Dream On” in “Sing for the Moment” as well as Ed Sheeran joining the show to sing Dido‘s famous chorus from “Stan.”
While Dolly Parton claimed she didn’t belong in the Hall and asked voters not to choose her, she was voted in anyway and in fact, closed out the night. According to Rolling Stone, in her speech she said, “I’m a rock star now! 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.” An all-star mix of artists joined her to sing “9 to 5” and “Jolene,” which including the sight of Judas Priest’s Rob Halford side-by-side singing with Dolly.
The entire night wrapped up with Springsteen and John Mellencamp leading a tribute to the late Jerry Lee Lewis, once of the inaugural members of the Hall, who passed away last month.
