Phil Collins received the rock hall honour at Saturday’s ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with Cynthia Erivo and Billy Idol among the featured performers and presenters.
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Phil Collins was visibly emotional as he accepted his honour at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday night at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
The 75-year-old Collins, who used a pair of canes while taking the stage due to mobility trouble and other health problems, cried to a large ovation that included his daughter, actor Lily Collins, along with four other children.
Travis Barker, the Blink-182 drummer, inducted Collins and praised him for his dual stardom as both a drummer and a hit-making pop singer in the 1980s. Barker later played the drum fill from “In the Air Tonight” as Cynthia Erivo delivered a slowed-down, epic rendition of the song that brought the crowd to its feet.
Minutes after Collins’ segment, Billy Idol was inducted, with Idol being joined by longtime guitarist Steve Stevens by No Doubt members Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani for a duet on “Eyes Without a Face.” Idol told the audience, “I say to all the young people out there who can barely tune a guitar and work a sampler, ‘Now it’s your turn,’” and he later added, “And now, I'm gonna party with the Wu-Tang Clan!”
Oprah Winfrey inducted the late Luther Vandross, calling him “the maestro of the love song,” and said he was once correctly named “the top artist that people make looove to.” Usher followed by singing a medley of Vandross hits including “Here and Now” and “So Amazing.”
Wu-Tang Clan then took the stage with its 10 current members for an acceptance speech and performance, backed by a big jazz band, that included “C.R.E.A.M.,” “Method Man” and Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.” RZA said, “We took Staten Island to the world,” and Chris Rock commented, “Wu-Tang rewrote the rules of hip-hop and did it without a big machine behind them.”
MC Lyte was the first artist inducted in the hip-hop portion, with Remy Ma doing the honours. Joy Division and New Order were also inducted jointly, with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails providing the induction remarks and Peter Hook—appearing as the bassist for both bands—performing “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and “Bizarre Love Triangle” with Deftones and Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches.
Queen Latifah was inducted later in the evening, with Megan Thee Stallion delivering the introduction. Latifah said it had been “difficult enough being a woman in hip-hop,” “let alone being a hip-hopper in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” and she performed with MC Lyte a medley that included Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.” and MC Lyte’s “Ruffneck.”
Producer Rick Rubin accepted his induction with a one-sentence speech—“You can’t kill rock ‘n’ roll”—before the Red Hot Chili Peppers appeared and played “Give It Away,” with Rubin also credited as the producer of many of the band’s hits.
The ceremony’s musical lineup also included surprise performances: U2 opened the night by playing its new single “Silencio,” then performed “Pride (In the Name of Love),” while Run DMC and Aerosmith closed with a jam of “Walk This Way.”
Several inductees did not attend. Oasis—inducted by Bob Odenkirk—was absent, with the event noting Noel Gallagher was playing a gig back home in Britain and Liam Gallagher “just didn’t want to come,” while Iron Maiden also skipped the ceremony due to being on a world tour in Australia.
The Rock & Roll Hall returned to a previous format after streaming the ceremony live in recent years, with the public not expected to see it until an edited version airs on Dec. 9.
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