Radiohead, The Cure, Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, The Zombies, Def Leppard and Roxy Music were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame on Friday night during a ceremony at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The night was filled with speeches and musical performances from a batch of inductees that had long been awaiting entry and Radiohead.
Nicks started the night with a performance of “Stand Back” and then welcomed Don Henley for their 1981 collaboration “Leather & Lace” before Harry Styles stood in for the late Tom Petty on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and “Edge Of Seventeen” closed the mini-set. Styles inducted Stevie with a speech that mentioned his admiration of Nicks and the bond they’ve formed in recent years. Nicks, a two-time inductee who previously entered the Rock Hall with Fleetwood Mac only spoke for 12 minutes despite a reputation for long speeches. She talked about her musical history, relationship with Tom Petty and thanked many of those who helped her career.
Radiohead’s Phil Selway and Ed O’Brien were the only two members of the band to accept the honor in Brooklyn. However, the pair gave heartfelt speeches after Radiohead was inducted by David Byrne. “They richly deserve this honor for two reasons: their music, the quality and constant innovation, but equally for their innovations in how they release their work — that has affected the entire music business, and there’s quite a few people in the music business in this room tonight. They’re creative and smart in both areas, a rare and inspiring combination,” Byrne said of the band that took their name from one of his songs. “It is a big fucking deal. I wish the others could be here because they would be feeling it,” O’Briend said as part of his speech recognizing the honor.
Roxy Music was induted by Duran Duran‘s Simon Le Bon and John Taylor. The pair lauded Roxy Music’s creativity and diversity and acknwoledged the band as a huge influence. Frontman Bryan Ferry reunited with band mates Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera to accept the honor and perform a set that included “In Every Dream Home A Heartache,” “Out Of The Blue,” Love Is The Drug,” “More Than This,” “Avalon” and “Editions Of You.”
The Cure won raves from many on hand for their mini-set of “Shake Dog Shake,” “A Forest,” “Lovesong,” “Just Like Heaven” and “Boys Don’t Cry.” Trent Reznor walked back previous comments showing ambivalence towards the Rock Hall as he inducted a band he called, “one of the most unique, most brilliant, most heartbreakingly excellent rock bands the world has ever known.” The Cure frontman Robert Smith was surrounded by former and current members of the group as he gave a short speech.
“With an epic career spanning over four decades and nine Number One albums, this gifted singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, actress is an icon,” Janelle Monáe said of Janet Jackson. “She is a bold visionary, a rule-breaker, a risk taker, and a boundless visual artist. Quite simply, y’all, there is only one Janet.” Jackson declined to perform but gave a speech with the crowd-pleasing line “Your baby sister has made it in” towards her famous family.
Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles welcomed The Zombies to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. She spoke about her personal connection with their music and gave a history of the band. Unlike the previous evening inductees, all four members of The Zombies spoke in receiving the honor in the Borough where they played their first American gig. The Zombies opened their performance with “Time Of The Season” and went on to play “This Will Be Our Year,” “Tell Her No” and “She’s Not There.”
Def Leppard was the final inductee of the evening and were inducted by Queen‘s Brian May. The Queen guitarist was effusive in his praise of the British rockers. “Not everybody realizes that these guys are not just crowd pleasers,” May said. “They also embody such an amazing technical excellence. They have it all.” Members of Def Leppard were emotional in receiving the honor and discussed the tragedies they’ve dealt with including drummer Rick Allen’s nearly fatal car crash and the loss of Steve Clark. The band’s mini-set included “Hysteria,” “Rock Of Ages” “Photograph” and “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” The night ended with a super jam on “All The Young Dudes.”
Watch fan-shot video from the ceremony captured by Joe Rashbaum:
