It was supposed to be a night that celebrated some of rock’n’roll’s most under appreciated acts and one of hip-hop’s greatest, but it was long running feuds, the power of the genre to influence politics and the institution itself which became the main talking points.
At the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Steve Miller took the organization to task for not “respecting” artists, Deep Purple were confronted with the absence of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and E Street Band member Steve Van Zandt doubled down on Bruce Springsteen’s decision to boycott a gig in North Carolina.
David Byrne, Kimbra and the Roots opened proceedings playing David Bowie’s Fame, with Byrne and Kimbra splitting vocal duties while the Roots, who pulled out of a Bowie tribute at Carnegie Hall after a dispute over equipment sharing, provided backing.
Before the event much of the focus had been on gangsta rap groupNWA, who revealed they would not be performing at the ceremony due to a difference of opinion with the organizers about how the live performance would unfold. (Ice Cube told the New York Times that the group, “… wanted to do it on a whole other level, and that just couldn’t happen.”)
The group’s remaining members, Dr Dre, MC Ren, DJ Yella and Ice Cube all attended with Kendrick Lamar introducing the group. He said Ice Cube was the blueprint for his debut album and that Dr Dre was a “scientist” and “perfectionist” who had become his mentor. Lamar said Eazy-E was a “true mastermind” and his lyrics on songs such as Dopeman and Fuck Tha Police spoke to people around the world.
Ice Cube added that the group’s induction into rock’n’roll’s roll of honour was a source of pride and vindication for the group and addressed criticism that a gangsta rap group don’t belong in rock’s hall of fame.
“The question is are we rock’n’roll?” Ice Cube asked. “I say, you goddamn right we are. It’s not an instrument or a style of music, it’s a spirit. It’s been going since the blues, jazz, bebop, heavy metal, punk rock and yes, hip-hop. What connects us all is that spirit.
“Rock’n’roll is not conforming to the people who came before but creating your own path in life. That is rock’n’roll and that is us. Rock’n’roll is NWA.”
Dr Dre paid homage to Eazy-E and said: “There were a lot of people who were shocked by what we were saying. But this is proof to all the kids out there growing up in places similar to Compton that anything is possible.”
Steve Miller scolded the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame process in the backstage area after playing live, saying it was far too complicated and that the organizers “needed to respect the artists”. He said he was only offered tickets for himself and his wife, while his band were neglected.
When a press officer tried to “wrap things up,” Miller said he was going to “wrap her up,” and said she should “sit down and learn something”. When he learned of his nomination in December he told Billboard: “I’m stunned by the news and baffled at how it works and had given up thinking about it, so it was a very pleasant surprise.”
E-Street Band guitarist and Sopranos star Steve Van Zandt was there to pay tribute to songwriter Bert Berns, who died at 38 after working on hits for Van Morrison, The Drifters and Edwin Starr in a highly productive eight-year run, and was given the Ahmet Ertegun Award for Lifetime Achievement.
But he also addressed Bruce Springsteen’s decision to pull out of his upcoming show in North Carolina over the state’s new anti-LGBT legislation. “The issue was too important and this vile and evil discrimination was starting to spread state to state, so we wanted to take a stand now and stop it or at least set an example,” he said backstage.
Van Zandt who formed Artists United Against Apartheid and boycotted South Africa in the 80s over the white minority government’s apartheid system, said that experience had taught him that, “you have to hurt them financially to make them change morally.”
Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich, introduced Deep Purple and said his dad took him to see the band as a nine-year-old in 1973 in Copenhagen for a gig that would change his life and turn him on to hard rock.
He listed the band alongside Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath as the most influential hard rock bands ever, and produced a more veiled criticism of the organization saying he was “bewildered” that it had taken so long for them to be inducted much later than Led Zeppelin (1995) and Black Sabbath (2006). He called Smoke on the Water, the band’s most well-known track, a “big heavy door into a legacy without end”.
The band’s guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who was responsible for the group’s most famous riffs, didn’t attend – last year he started legal action to claim £750,000 in alleged unpaid royalties – but David Coverdale said he sent an email to Blackmore and tried to convince him to join the rest of the band. The pair’s friendship was restored recently after 30 years of “inflammatory oratory,” according to Coverdale.
Lead singer Ian Gillan called it “a great honour and very humbling to be among exalted company,” before listing every member who has been in the band, including organ player Jon Lord (who died in 2012), whose wife Vicky Lord was there to pick up his award. He said he’d also asked Blackmore to be a part of the evening.
Chicago and Cheap Trick represented Illinois at the ceremony, and both had inductions which were a lot more straightforward than what had come before. Cheap Trick were introduced by Kid Rock, who paid homage to their work ethic, while lead singer Robin Zander emotionally thanked his fans and family. The ceremony will be broadcast on HBO on 30 April.
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Source: Guardian