A New Class Has Been Inducted Into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

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The 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place in Cleveland this weekend. This year’s class included: Tina Turner, Foo Fighters, Carole King, The Go-Go's, Jay-Z and Todd Rundgren. In addition, LL Cool J, Billy Preston and Randy Rhoads were honored with the Musical Excellence Award, and Kraftwerk, Gil Scott Heron and Charley Patton received the Early Influence Award.

Among the ceremony highlights:

Taylor Swift inducted Carole King into the Hall for her second time (she was inducted as a songwriter in 1990 with her first husband, Gerry Goffin), opening the show with “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” Taylor talked about her parents being huge King fans. She noted, “Carole King is the greatest songwriter of all time,” adding her lyrics, “speak to the true and honest … It is only right for them to be passed down like precious heirlooms from parents to children.”
Carole thanked Taylor “for carrying the torch forward” calling her “like my professional granddaughter.” She then paid tribute to her friend Aretha Franklin. “I keep hearing it, so I’m gonna have to try to own it, that today’s female singers and songwriters stand on my shoulder,” said King. “Let it not be forgotten they also stand on the shoulders of the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. May she rest in power – Miss Aretha Franklin.”
Also paying tribute to King in song was Jennifer Hudson, who played Aretha on the big screen, who sang “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” with King herself performing “You’ve Got A Friend.”
Dr. Dre welcomed L.L. Cool J into the HOF, noting, “He’s hit that unique space that crosses and bridges generations; the rare artist beloved by you, your mama and all of your kids all at once,” adding. “How ’bout that? How many artists in the rap game are relevant after 30 years?”
“A lot people, when I told them I got inducted, they’d say to me, ‘Isn’t it is about time?,” LL, who got nominated six times before, said during his speech. “What people don’t realize is, I wasn’t thinking about the people who voted against me. I was thinking about the people who voted for me. It was love.”
LL’s performance had the most surprises of the night. After performing snippets of “Go Cut Creator Go” and “Going Back to Cali,” he was joined by Eminem for “Rock the Bells,” and the J.Lo for “All I Have,” and ended with “Mama Said Knock You Out.”
Tina Turner did not attend the ceremony for her second HOF induction. She was welcomed to the Hall by Angela Bassett, with several big names celebrating her with performances. Mickey Guyton performed the classic “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” while H.E.R. and Keith Urban teamed up for “It’s Only Love,” a song Tina recorded with Bryan Adams. Adams was supposed to perform it himself, but he had to pull out after testing positive for COVID, with Keith stepping in as a last minute replacement. Finally, Christina Aguilera ended things with “River Deep, Mountain High.”
Drew Barrymore welcomed The Go-Go's into the HOF, dressing in a bath towel and smeared makeup in tribute to the cover of hit album “Beauty and the Beat,” sharing that the album “blew the doors of my life off,” adding, “It opened me up to a whole new dimension. I dropped the needle and I felt instantly connected to the punk pulse of this record. It sounded like pure possibility.”
In her speech, Kathy Valentine criticized the Hall on the lack of female artists inducted. “By honoring our historical contribution, the doors to this establishment have opened wider and the Go-Go’s will be advocating for the inclusion of more women,” she said. “Because here is the thing: There would not be less of us if more of us were visible.” In their performance they treated the crowd to such hits as “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” and “We Got The Beat.”
Although there was no musical tribute to Jay-Z, Dave Chappelle was on hand to honor the hip-hop legend, although he kicked things off by making a joke about his Netflix special controversy. “I would like to apologize," he said, quickly cutting himself off to add, "nah, I'm just f***ing with ya." In his speech he noted to Jay, “You embody Black excellence, how great we can be,” adding, “I understand who you are. And I understand what you do and I a very grateful for your contribution to this art.” There were also video tributes from the likes of former President Obama, David Letterman, Diddy and more.
Instead of performing, Jay used his time to give a long speech, where he talked about the stages of his career, and paid tribute to early inspirations like KRS-One and Chuck D.
Todd Rundgren, as promised, skipped the ceremony, but Patti Smith was on hand to pay tribute to him, while Kraftwerk, Randy Rhoads, and Gil Scott-Heron were celebrated with tribute videos.
Finally, Paul McCartney took the stage to pay tribute to Foo Fighters, comparing Dave Grohl’s career after Nirvana, to his after the end of the Beatles and his time with Wings. Noting after the Beatles broke up, and Nirvana ended in the tragic death of Kurt Cobain, they both had to answer the question, “what do you do now?” “In my case, I said, ‘Well, I’ll make an album where I play all the instruments myself.’ So I did that,” Paul said. “Dave’s group broke up, what’s he do? He makes an album where he plays all the instruments himself. Do you think this guy’s stalking me?”
Dave gave a rather short speech, sharing, “I’m usually the guy who talks too much,” and adding, “I didn’t prepare any sort of speech because I figured I’d make it short because the last 25 years has been me, just like, ‘Blah, blah, blah … rock & roll … blah, blah, blah.'”
Ahead of the speeches the band performed such hits as “Best of You,” “My Hero” and “Everlong,” and then after returned with McCartney to perform The Beatles’ “Get Back.”

The Hall of Fame’s also had their In Memoriam segment with Brandi Carlile and the Hanseroth twins performing the Everly Brothers classic “All I Have To Do Is Dream,” as the hall paid tribute to the big names we lost this year including Don Everly, Charlie Watts, Bunny Wailer, Chick Corea, Phil Spector, Mary Wilson, Biz Markie, Dusty Hill, Jim Steinman, Billie Joe Shaver, and many others.