Rock & Roll Hall of Fame turns up starpower to induct Cher, Foreigner, Mary J. Blige, Ozzy and more
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Hollywood stars Julia Roberts and Zendaya bookended Saturday’s inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, giving a little stardust to an eclectic lineup that included pop icon Cher, heavy metal’s Ozzy Osbourne, hip-hop soul queen Mary J. Blige, soft rockers Foreigner and 83-year-old soul icon Dionne Warwick.
It was a five-hour-plus show that also honored hip-hop trailblazers A Tribe Called Quest, punk pioneers the MC5, the effortless dance music of Kool & the Gang, the soft rock of Foreigner, the beach bum tunes of Jimmy Buffett and the jam band fusion of Dave Matthews Band.
Dua Lipa opened the show singing Cher’s “Believe” before the 78-year-old icon joined her onstage, giving way to Zendaya who noted that Cher is the only woman to have a No. 1 hit on a Billboard chart in each of the past seven decades. “Cher has got the goods,” Zendaya said before Cher performed a rocking version of “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
In her speech, Cher thanked her mother for instilling in her to always get back up after defeat. “I never give up," she said. "I'm talking to the women — down and out, we keep going.”
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Roberts helped induct Dave Matthews Band — she’s a self-avowed superfan and she appeared in the band’s video for the 2005 single, “Dreamgirl.” Roberts, wearing a band T-shirt, said the appeal of the group is “spontaneous abandon,” adding the first time she danced with her husband was to one ofn their songs.
The jam band, with their mix of funk, folk-rock, jazz, blues and pop, then played “Ants Marching” — asking the crowd to sing the chorus — “Crash” and “So Much to Say.” The arena was still full when they hit the stage after midnight, with the crowd singing along and swaying.
Matthews hugged Roberts, handed out the trophies to his bandmates, and called the class of 2024 impressive. “We're swimming in very deep water here,” he said. He thanked the current and former band members and the bar owner who gave them a home in Charlottesville, Virginia. When he thanked the fans, they roared back.
Dr Dre inducted Blige, who is credited with creating a completely new category of music — hip-hop soul. The nine-time Grammy-winner’s best-known song is ”Family Affair″ from her triple-platinum 2001 album “No More Drama.” “When you listen to Mary, you understand you’re not alone in heartbreak,” Dre said.
Blige, wearing shiny black hat, a sparkly dress and long black gloves and boots, sang a mix of her hits, including “Love No Limit,” “Be Happy” and “Family Affair.” At the end of her set, a dancer brought up a cloak to wrap around her, in an echo of James Brown. “Move with grace. Trust the journey,” she advised. “You are worthy.”
Chuck D inducted Kool & the Gang, saying “This is a long-due celebration.” The band had 12 Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 including the 1980 chart-topper “Celebration” as well as “Cherish,” “Get Down On It,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Ladies Night” and “Joanna.” They’ve been eligible for the hall since 1994.
The Roots helped the band do a medley of hits that got the crowd grooving led by Robert “Kool” Bell — bass guitarist, co-founder and last original member — and longtime singer James “JT” Taylor. Confetti shot into the arena and Taylor asked the crowd to use their cellphone lights as he read off the names of 10 members who were critical to the band's success.
Warwick arrived at the ceremony only a few days after attending a memorial to her longtime friend and collaborator, Cissy Houston. Teyana Taylor called her “truly one of a kind” as well as telling off the teleprompter operator for not putting "Ms." before her name. Jennifer Hudson sang “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” and was joined by Warwick, who also sang “Walk On By.”
Warwick said this year was the third time she was nominated for the Hall. “I am so pleased to be here,” she said. “I'm just going to say this and get off the stage: Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Dave Chappelle helped induct A Tribe Called Quest — Q-Tip, Jarobi, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and the late Phife Dawg — the lone hip-hop group to make the cut this year. Chappelle said the group incorporated "jazz and soul in a way hip-hop had never seen." Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Common, The Roots and De La Soul were on hand to perform a medley of Tribe hits, including “Bonita Applebum,” “Scenario” and “Can I Kick It?"
Sammy Hagar introduced Foreigner, and thanked their fans for their tenacity to demand inclusion. The English-American rockers — with hits like “Cold as Ice,” and “Waiting for a Girl Like You” — topped the charts in the 1970s and ’80s but never made it into the Hall — much less a ballot — until last year, despite being eligible for more than 20 years.
Hagar noted that Foreigner currently tours without any original members. “That's how good the songs are,” he said. “Who deserves this more than Foreigner?” Demi Lovato and Slash joined the touring Foreigner for “Feels Like the First Time” and Hagar then took lead for "Hot Blooded." Kelly Clarkson thrilled with a powerful “I Want to Know What Love Is” but the arena erupted when original singer Lou Gramm joined her.
Saturday's induction ceremony was at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, where the Hall has promised to return to every few years. A TV special with performance highlights will air on ABC on Jan. 1.
Roger Daltrey of The Who inducted Frampton. “It’s about bloody time!” he said. “Peter has had the most amazing career of all time. It’s probably easier to name the people he hasn’t worked with than the people he has,” Daltrey said.
Frampton earned his way into the Hall in large part on the strength of his 1976 live double album “Frampton Comes Alive!,” buoyed by the hit songs “Show Me the Way” and ″Baby, I Love Your Way.” Daltrey noted Frampton has always played with a wide smile.
A fittingly grinning Frampton — who played at last year's ceremony to honor Sheryl Crow — brought on Keith Urban to trade licks on “Do You Feel Like I Do” and showed why he is considered one of rock's great guitarists. He hooked up his famous talk box effect and the crowd roared.
Dave Matthews — before his band's inducement — helped honor Buffett with an acoustic version of the late singer-songwriter’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty.” James Taylor then came out to call Buffett — who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist song “Margaritaville” — “larger-than-life but at the same time right-sized and always authentic.” Taylor, Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally then performed Buffett's “Come Monday.”
Musician-actor Jack Black toasted Osbourne, saying that “heaven opened up above me” when he first listened to the album “Blizzard of Ozz.” Black called Osbourne “the Jack Nicholson of rock” and joked that his reality TV show “The Osbournes“ was possibly “the most evil thing he ever did.”
Osbourne, seated in a throne, credited the late guitarist Randy Rhoads and his wife, Sharon, for his career and life. This is the second time Ozzy has entered the Hall, the first time being in 2006 with the seminal metal band Black Sabbath. A tribute band to the Prince of Darkness — including Jelly Roll, Billy Idol, Maynard James Keenan, Wolfgang Van Halen, Steve Stevens and Robert Trujillo — played “Crazy Train,” “Mama, I’m Coming Home” and “No More Tears.”
The In Memoriam section included tributes, among others, to Kris Kristofferson, Cissy Houston, David Sanborn and Liam Payne. Dave Matthews Band performed “Burning Down the House” from the Talking Heads as fans filled out.
