BROOKLYN, New York — It may be called “The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” but fans of hip hop, funk, R&B and rock all had cause to cheer Friday night, because a diverse group was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The “Hall” is in Cleveland, but the ceremony took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Everyone from DJ Cool Herc to the late creator of Soul Train, Don Cornelius, Link Wray and Al Cooper were included along with superstars like Missy Elliot, who made history as the first female Hip-Hop star ever to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
From the opening minutes, the special nature of the show was obvious.
“You get a combination of not only your favorite artists, who are in the Hall of Fame, but the young artists that look up to them like tonight you’ll have Olivia Rodrigo singing with Sheryl Crow,” said John Sykes, President of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Sheryl Crow, one of this year’s inductees, brought along her two sons.
“It’s kind of made mom cool, when my 13-year-old said, ‘is this like the baseball hall of fame?’ I was like, ‘yeah,’” Crow said.
Crow says this honor makes her happy, in part, because of how many of the respected rockers getting inducted this year are women.
“Yeah, I’m hoping that in the next few years we’re going to see some catch up,” she said.
Crow got in after her first nomination, while others like Chaka Khan had to wait years for this moment to be honored by Common, H.E.R., and other stars she influenced.
Chaka skipped the red carpet and so did Missy Elliot, but she spoke to GMA’s Robin Roberts about what it meant to be inducted.
“This is as high for me as you can get in music, it’s the highest honor,” Elliot said.
In the case of the late George Michael, it fell to his former band mate Andrew Ridgley to do the honors. Bernie Taupin, who wrote the words to so many of their shared hits was inducted by Elton John.
“I’m happy to see all of these people going in with me the same year, you know, friends as well as people that I respect tremendously,” Taupin said. “To be in there the same year as Willie Nelson, that’s gravy man.”
Kate Bush is back in the spotlight thanks to the hit TV show ‘Stranger Things,’ that revived the old hit ‘Running Up That Hill.’
And speaking of still running, ‘The Spinners’ were included.
Meanwhile, hard rock was represented by Rage Against the Machine.
To get into the hall, at least a quarter of a century must have passed since a musician’s first recording.
Friday’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony streamed live on Disney+ , owned by the same parent company as ABC 7. A condensed version of the ceremony will air on ABC on January 1.