This past Saturday Cleveland, Ohio, hosted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. While the city is home to the Hall of Fame, this was only the third time it hosted the ceremony in the 27-year history of the event.
This year’s inductees included Guns N’ Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys and the Small Faces/Faces, as well as others. While all of these artists were present, there were no complete reunions on stage. Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses refused the induction, former Chili Pepper John Frusciante passed on the invitation, Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys is recovering from cancer and Rod Stewart of the Faces couldn’t make it because of the flu.
Despite the absences, the ceremony featured some of the biggest names in music history presenting and performing. Green Day presented Guns N’ Roses, who performed three hits with Myles Kennedy singing lead as fans jeered the absent Rose.
The Faces replaced Rod Stewart with Mick Hucknall of Simply Red. Beastie Boys chose not to perform without Yauch, so they were saluted by the Roots, Kid Rock and Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes.
The inductees who had passed away included blues legend Freddie King and singer-songwriter Laura Nyro. King was inducted by Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, who also performed alongside Derek Trucks and Joe Bonamassa. Nyro’s induction was presented by a tearful Bette Midler before Sara Bareilles performed Nyro’s “Stoney End.”
The evening also included the inductions of late producer and publisher Don Kirshner, R&B engineer Cosimo Matassa, late Atlantic Records producer and engineer Tom Dowd and British producer and engineer Glyn Johns. Smokey Robinson inducted some backup bands that had been previously overlooked by the Hall of Fame, including the Crickets, the Comets, the Midnighters, the Blue Caps, the Famous Flames and the Miracles.
The final band honoured was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who were presented by comedian Chris Rock. The band played a set with their current guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer, who was three years old when the band originally formed. Past Chili Peppers drummers Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez joined in the three-song set.
For an encore, the band invited everybody on stage for a performance of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground.” Slash, Billie Joe Armstrong, Ronnie Wood and George Clinton were among the music legends who crowded the stage, before wrapping up the show at 1:30 a.m.
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