- Culture
- 07 Nov 22
The ceremony honoured artists of many genres besides rock, including hip-hop, country, R&B and new wave.
2022's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday night (November 5th) saw a host of emotional and heartwarming moments as new members were welcomed.
The Los Angeles ceremony honored Dolly Parton, Eminem, Duran Duran, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, Eurythmics, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. This group represents a diverse combination of genres, including hip-hop, R&B, country music, new wave and soft rock.
Dolly Parton, who initially resisted her nomination, accepted the award this weekend. "I'm a rock star now!" she joked. "This is a very special night for me. I'm sure a lot of you knew that back when they said they were gonna put me in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I didn't really feel like I had done enough to deserve that. And I didn't understand at the time it's about more than that. But I'm just honoured and so proud to be here tonight," she continued, as reported by Rolling Stone.
The Tennessee country music icon then performed hits 'Rockin' Years' and 'Jolene'; the latter of which featured guests Pat Benatar, Eurythmics' Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart, Simon Le Bon, Brandi Carlile, and Judas Priest's Rob Halford.
Dr. Dre introduced his longtime friend and collaborator Eminem (aka Marshall Bruce Mathers III), saying "I knew that his gifts were undeniable... and I was willing to bet my entire career on it." Dre went on to credit Eminem for bringing hip-hop to middle America.
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Eminem followed this heartfelt introduction with an even more emotional speech. "So I'm probably not supposed to actually be here tonight because of a couple of reasons. One of them that I'm a rapper, and this is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Secondly, I almost died from an overdose in 2007, which kind of sucked. And finally, I had to really fight my way through man to try and break through in this music," Eminem shared.
'The Real Slim Shady' rapper thanked an almost endless list of people who inspired and influenced him. The alphabetical list included Tupac, Dre, The Notorious B.I.G., Salt-N-Pepa, and many many more. "Those were my rockstars man. Those are just a few of the names that I hope will be considered in the future for induction. Because without them, a lot of us wouldn't be here. I know I wouldn't."
Eminem's performance included a stellar lineup of hit tracks 'My Name Is', 'Rap God', 'Sing for the Moment', 'Stan', 'Forever' and 'Not Afraid'. Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler performed the chorus of 'Sing for the Moment' live which samples Aerosmith's 'Dream On'. Ed Sheeran was brought on stage to join the performance of 'Stan'.
English new wave band Duran Duran were presented their award by Robert Downey Jr. Lead singer Simon Le Bon read a letter from Andy Taylor to explain the absence of the band's founding guitarist. The letter revealed that Taylor is suffering from Metastatic prostate cancer, with which he was diagnosed four years ago.
"I'm truly sorry and massively disappointed I couldn't make it," the letter read. "I'm so very proud of these four brothers; I'm amazed at their durability, and I'm overjoyed at accepting this award. I often doubted the day they would come. I'm sure as hell glad I'm around to see the day."
The group performed their '80s classics, 'Girls on Film', 'Rio' and 'Ordinary World'. The Los Angeles Times reported the performance started with technical issues where only LeBon's vocals could be heard. "We just needed to prove to you that we weren't lip syncing," he joked before they started over.
Watch some of the induction speeches and performances below: