Carole King
Carole King sang "You're So Far Away" from her Tapestry album in honor of non-performing inductee Lou Adler, who founded the Ode record label.
Carole King sang "You're So Far Away" from her Tapestry album in honor of non-performing inductee Lou Adler, who founded the Ode record label.
Heart came up "in an era when Seattle was not the center of the rock & roll universe, if you can believe that," said singer Ann Wilson, after being inducted by Chris Cornell (pictured), who, along with Jerry Cantrell, joined the band on stage.
"When it comes to loving L.A., "I do," said Don Henley (left), inducting Randy Newman. "It took me an hour and a half to get here. I love it…. Never go Olympic." Speaking of the night's honoree, The Eagles singer revealed that he recently saw Randy Newman play in his home state of Texas. Said Henley: "When you can get 2000 people to stand up and sing 'Rednecks' in a state that has elected Rick Perry three times in a row, you are a great artist."
Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl (right) and Taylor Hawkins used their Rush induction speech to mention the many mysteries of rock & roll, starting with Paul McCartney dying and being replaced in 1966, followed by "Elvis sightings. Jim Morrison sightings. Axl Rose sightings. But there's one mystery that surely exceeds them all: When the f— did Rush become cool?"
"From the boardrooms to the bedrooms, equality is coming right along," said Heart's Nancy Wilson, suggesting that we've come a long way, baby.
On the red carpet earlier in the evening, Gary Clark Jr. (right) told THR that playing in honor of late bluesman Albert King "means the world. Albert King is one of the biggest influences on the music scene as a guitar player." Later during the show, John Mayer showed off a big-screen blowup of his high school senior yearbook picture, beneath which was a quote from King — "The blues don't change" — to prove that a deceased bluesman could really mean something to "a 17-year-old well-taken-care-of kid from the suburbs."
Jennifer Hudson (right, with Kelly Rowland) performed the late Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” during the ceremony, but "seemed a bit tentative on the snippet of 'Bad Girls' that preceded it," writes THR contributor Chris Willman in his review.
Lou Adler was one of two non-performing honorees. The movie and music producer (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke, among others) and club owner (Los Angeles' Roxy Theatre) received the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
"The safest place to be in the world is in the space of Quincy Jones' heart," said Oprah Winfrey, inducting the man who discovered her on local TV in Chicago and put her in The Color Purple.
"He saw me on a little local talk show in Chicago and said 'That's Sophia'," Winfrey recalled, adding that no one has a better "eye for discovering talent — and I'm not saying that just because he discovered me."
The evening’s all-star cast — sans Flavor Flav — reconvened for the traditional closing jam, performing Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads.”
Flavor Flav gave the longest speech of the night, though he kept repeating he'd been warned not to by his Public Enemy partner, Chuck D. "Chuck said, 'Yo, man, share the moment.' What the hell do you think I'm doing?… I am gonna share the moment, Chuck. But I only get to be in the Hall of Fame once in my life." Indeed, it's a day his clock has waited for since 1997. "This will be the last night you see me wearing this same clock," vowed Flav, who said he told himself then that he wouldn't take it off until he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He added that he would start wearing another clock, though: "You know me."
"I wanna be like you when I grow up," Oprah Winfrey told inductee Quincy Jones. "I really do."
"I have to say, this is a little overwhelming for a nice Jewish boy from Toronto," said Rush singer/bassist Geddy Lee, pictured with Alex Lifeson and Neal Peart.
"Playing with different people is good for any musician," said Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl. He would know — in the documentary Sound City, which he directed, Grohl jams with Paul McCartney, Rick Springfield, Stevie Nicks and John Fogerty (pictured, right), the latter who played "I Love L.A." with Tom Petty (left) and Jackson Browne at the Rock Hall ceremony.
Usher sang Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” as a tribute to legendary producer, and now Rock Hall inductee, Quincy Jones.