LOS ANGELES — Phil Collins gave a tearful acceptance speech and got an electrifying tribute from Cynthia Erivo, Oprah Winfrey inducted the late Luther Vandross, the crowd yelled along with Billy Idol, and Wu-Tang Clan crowded the stage for a rowdy celebration at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday night. Queen Latifah, Oasis, MC Lyte, Sade, Joy Division/New Order and Iron Maiden were also inducted at the ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles along with producer Rick Rubin, who got a long-bearded tribute from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A night that beforehand felt like it might fall flat with the absences of key inductees was as lively and overloaded as the induction ceremony ever is. U2 was the night’s surprise opener, playing their new single “Silencio” while surrounded by dancers in riot squad gear. They then launched into their 1984 classic “Pride (In the Name of Love)” as singer Bono alternately raised a peace sign and fist. Run DMC and Aerosmith were the surprise closers with a loud jam of “Walk This Way,” their 1986 classic collaboration, produced by Rubin, that brought the merger of rock and rap to a new level. Collins gets emotional, Idol gets wild The 75-year-old Collins, whose mobility trouble and other health problems kept him from performing, took the stage slowly using a pair of canes and cried at a huge ovation from a crowd that included his daughter, actor Lily Collins, and four other children. Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker inducted Collins and praised him for his unprecedented dual stardom as a drummer and a hit-making pop singer in the 1980s. “I grew up just wanting to play the drums,” Collins said. “Everything else has been a really happy accident. I can’t believe, when I look back, how life has gone.” Barker said Collins’ song “In the Air Tonight” gave the world “arguably the most badass drum fill of all time.” Minutes later, Barker played that drum fill himself as Erivo gave a slowed-down, epic rendition of the song with a wailing crescendo that brought the crowd to its feet. Collins was already in the hall as a member of Genesis, but now gets the solo honour. He hasn’t been able to take the stage since 2022, but assured the crowd that “you haven’t heard the last of me.” Hours later, the crowd leapt to its feet and shouted along with “White Wedding” during the induction of Idol — one of the few artists ticket buyers knew for sure would show up and perform. He was inducted along with his longtime guitarist Steve Stevens by No Doubt members Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani, who joined Idol for a duet on “Eyes Without a Face.” “I say to all the young people out there who can barely tune a guitar and work a sampler, ‘Now it’s your turn,’” Idol said. He ended with, “And now, I’m gonna party with the Wu-Tang Clan!” Oprah inducts Luther Vandross Winfrey said with relish that Vandross was “the maestro of the love song” and said he was once correctly named “the top artist that people make looove to.” Vandross, an R&B singer with a velvet voice, was one of the definitive singers of the 1980s and ’90s. He died in 2005. “Luther Vandross sang with such passion and soul it could reach something deep inside that you didn’t even know needed to be reached,” Winfrey said. Usher then took the stage and sang a sultry medley of Vandross hits, including “Here and Now” and “So Amazing.” Hip-hop acts make their presence known Wu-Tang Clan, the epic hip-hop collective from New York’s Staten Island, filled the stage with its 10 current members, giving a memorable acceptance speech and a performance that had the crowd on its feet dancing. Backed by a big jazz band, the musical medley included “C.R.E.A.M.,” “Method Man” and late member Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.” “Wu-Tang rewrote the rules of hip-hop and did it without a big machine behind them,” said comedian Chris Rock, who inducted them. “We took Staten Island to the world,” the group’s leader RZA said. “We had a desire to conquer.” He added, “We wanted to make a mark. We made our mark.” MC Lyte, a trailblazing female rapper starting in the late 1980s, was the first artist inducted, with hip-hop star Remy Ma doing the honors and calling her “one of the first women in hip-hop to make sure there was room for the rest of us.” MC Lyte said she was a “B-girl from Brooklyn just looking for my chance to inspire and motivate.” Her contemporary and fellow groundbreaker Latifah was inducted later in the evening by Megan Thee Stallion, who said Latifah “taught us to recognize royalty within ourselves.” Latifah said that for a long time, she would not have believed this night was possible. “It’s difficult enough being a woman in hip-hop,” she said, “let alone being a hip-hopper in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.” Latifah and MC Lyte then took the stage together to perform a medley of their hits, including Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.” and MC Lyte’s “Ruffneck.” They entered the hall as recipients of the Early Influence Award along with posthumous inductees Gram Parsons, Fela Kuti and Celia Cruz, who were all inducted via video tribute. A stage full of Rick Rubins Legendary rock, hip-hop and country producer Rubin accepted his induction with a one-sentence acceptance speech. “You can’t kill rock ‘n’ roll,” he said, and left the stage. The Red Hot Chili Peppers then appeared, all four of them wearing white wigs and long white fake beards to match Rubin’s signature look as they played their 1991 breakthrough hit “Give It Away,” one of many he produced for them. Longtime Hall-of-Famer Neil Young inducted Rubin, making fun of his tendency to work while lying barefoot on the couch and praising him for the unmatched care he takes with his artists, including the Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Johnny Cash, the Chicks and Adele. Oasis and the other no-shows Oasis, the youngest of the inductees, didn’t show up. Guitarist Noel Gallagher was playing a gig back home in Britain, and his little brother, Liam Gallagher, just didn’t want to come. “Anybody surprised they didn’t show up?” asked actor and Oasis superfan Bob Odenkirk, who inducted them. “It would’ve been out of character if they had. I would’ve been worried.” Stephen Wilson Jr. gave an acoustic rendition of their biggest hit “Wonderwall.” Iron Maiden, the quintessential British heavy metal band of the 1980s, opted to stay on tour in Australia. “They aren’t even here tonight, because they’re rocking a world tour, as they have done for the last 50 years!” said actor Jack Black during their induction. A supergroup featuring members of Metallica, Rage Against the Machine and St. Vincent then played “The Trooper” in tribute. Joy Division, a dark and seminal post-punk band, and New Order, which was formed by its members after singer Ian Curtis died in 1980, got a joint induction. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails inducted them, saying Joy Division’s members were “the authors of an unbreakable archetype.” Only the bassist for both bands, Peter Hook, appeared at the ceremony. He performed Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” with Deftones and singer Lauren Mayberry of the band Chvrches. Hook said the young musicians “made an old man very happy.” He has had long-running feuds with his fellow bandmates and, other than Curtis, didn’t mention any of them in his acceptance speech. Sade also decided to skip the induction. The singer and her band that’s named after her were inducted by singer Andra Day and celebrated by singer Sienna Spiro, who sang the group’s beloved hit “Smooth Operator.” After streaming the ceremony live for the past few years, the Rock Hall returned to its previous format, where the public won’t see it until an edited version airs on ABC and Disney+ on Dec. 9. Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
