Phil Collins gave a tearful acceptance speech at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in Los Angeles, where Oprah Winfrey inducted Luther Vandross.
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Phil Collins gave a tearful acceptance speech at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday night in Los Angeles and was inducted despite health issues that have kept him from performing.
Collins, using a pair of canes due to mobility issues and other health problems, took the stage slowly and cried during a huge ovation from a crowd that included his daughter, actor Lily Collins.
Travis Barker inducted Collins and praised him for his dual success as both a drummer and a hit-making pop singer in the 1980s. Barker referenced Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” saying it gave the world “arguably the most badass drum fill of all time.”
Shortly after, Barker played that fill as Cynthia Erivo delivered a slowed-down, epic rendition of “In the Air Tonight,” bringing the crowd to its feet. Collins, who is a member of Genesis, received the solo honour at the ceremony.
Collins told the crowd: “I grew up just wanting to play the drums. Everything else has been a really happy accident. I can’t believe, when I look back, how life has gone.” He also assured the audience that “you haven’t heard the last of me.”
Oprah Winfrey inducted the late Luther Vandross during the ceremony. Winfrey, whose presence was unannounced, said Vandross was “the maestro of the love song” and described how he was once correctly named “the top artist that people make looove to.”
Vandross, an R&B singer who died in 2005, was remembered by Winfrey as a performer whose “passion and soul” could reach “something deep inside that you didn’t even know needed to be reached,” and Usher followed with a medley of Vandross songs including “Here and Now” and “So Amazing.”
U2 opened the show at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, playing their new single “Silencio” before launching into “Pride (In the Name of Love).” Singer Bono raised a peace sign and a fist while guitarist the Edge and the rest of the band played the song about Martin Luther King, Jr. U2 was inducted into the hall in 2005.
The ceremony also included inductions for MC Lyte and Sade, and it featured multiple notable no-shows, including Oasis, whose Noel Gallagher was described as playing a gig back home in Britain and Liam Gallagher as not wanting to attend. Iron Maiden was also expected to be on tour in Australia.
Additional planned future entrants mentioned in the report included Billy Idol, Queen Latifah, New Order, Oasis and Iron Maiden, while the ceremony is also described as returning to a format where the public will see an edited version on Dec. 9 after being streamed live in previous years.
Hip-hop acts were expected to be a key part of the event’s wider slate, including Wu-Tang Clan and Queen Latifah. MC Lyte was described as the first rapper inducted, with Remy Ma doing the honours, and Remy Ma called MC Lyte “one of the first women in hip-hop to make sure there was room for the rest of us.”
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