The 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony was held on March 29, 2019 in Brooklyn, NY. This was the 8th Induction we have attended. It is our 4th in Brooklyn (2014,2016,2017, 2019) in addition to 3 in Cleveland (2012,2015,2018) and 1 in LA (2013). We have now seen a total of 68 bands/performers/people inducted into the Hall.
The Ceremony itself has been evolving over the years in an attempt to to both present a compelling live experience and a television special that will bring viewers to the HBO broadcast. This year saw a number of changes that made it a unique experience with a greater emphasis on the music as opposed to the speeches. The large number of inductees (7 as opposed to the usual 5) as well as the continuation of inducting classic songs, a practice begun in 2018, and the return of the all-star jam made for a longer than average ceremony at 5 hours.
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| Stevie Nicks |
One of the major differences in this ceremony was a definite emphasis on music. In the past, inductees were limited to a 3 song performance. This year, the inductees that chose to play were given at least 4 songs. Previous ceremonies were also bogged down by having each member of a band give an acceptance speech. While that was fine for some bands, there were others that featured numerous members and would take close to an hour in acceptance speeches. This year, it seemed as though each band had a “spokesperson” that gave the main acceptance speech with the others limited to a quick “thank you” or nothing at all. What this did was leave more time for the music. Also, the two acts that chose not to play (Radiohead & Janet Jackson) accepted their awards without any type of tribute performance.
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| Don Henley, Stevie Nicks |
In the early years, the night would begin with a speech discussing the year in music. Over the past few years the Hall moved away from this and began the night with music. While the past 3 years saw the ceremony kick off with tributes to artists we lost (David Bowie, Chuck Berry, Tom Petty) this year began with inductee Stevie Nicks launching into “Stand Back”. As the song ended she mentioned she was wearing the cape she used in the original 1983 video. She then said that she had a surprise that she won’t announce, she’ll just let it happen. She began “Leather & Lace” and sure enough was joined by Don Henley reprising their duet. Stevie was beaming and enjoying every moment. She next introduced a “new friend” and brought out Harry Styles to take Tom Petty’s part on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”. Harry more than held his own and would have made Tom proud. To end her set, Stevie mentioned that the next song was a very heavy one that dealt with a lot of the problems she saw at the time she wrote it, including an incident between Tom Petty and his first wife. She then went into “Edge of Seventeen”.
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| Harry Styles, Stevie Nicks |
After her performance, Harry Styles was reintroduced to induct Stevie. Harry gave a very good speech, he was quite funny and really outlined why Stevie deserves the honor of being the first woman inducted twice (Fleetwood Mac was inducted in 1998). His speech did lack a personal element however. The best induction speeches see the presenter explain what the inductee really means to them. While Harry didn’t really get into their relationship he did give a very good speech. Stevie’s acceptance speech was pure Stevie, funny, charming, off-the-cuff and totally enjoyable. She encouraged women to keep playing and even mentioned she told the members of Haim to go solo so they can get in twice.
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| David Byrne |
When Stevie finished, the video presentation for Radiohead began. The band was inducted by Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Byrne is clearly a fan of the band and respects what they have done, but his speech came off more like a recitation of the facts and timeline of the band. Soon after being announced as an Inductee, vocalist Thom York said he would not attend the ceremony. In fact, the only attendees were the rhythm section of drummer Phil Selway and bassist Ed O’Brien. Phil spoke of what an honor this was, while Ed took it a step further and said that this was in fact a big deal and he really did wish the other members were there. As only two members showed up, there was no musical performance.
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| John Taylor, Simon Le Bon |
The Roxy Music induction video was next, leading into an induction speech by Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon and bass player John Taylor. These two men are clearly fans of Roxy Music and gave a great speech explaining what Roxy meant in Britain. This is one of the rare times that a band is inducted that had a much bigger impact in Britain than here in America and Simon and John did a great job of framing their career and impact. John also added a personal story about seeing the band as a teen. The members of Roxy Music took the stage to accept with Bryan Ferry giving the speech. His speech was more a list of “thank yous” than anything else. Of the members inducted only Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackey, Phil Manzanera and Eddie Jobson attended. Brian Eno and Paul Thompson and Graham Simpson could not attend. The speeches led into one of the most anticipated performances of the night, the reunion of Roxy Music. With a great light show behind them and joined by other former members of Roxy (who were not inducted) the band launched into a set of deep cuts and favorites including “In Every Dream Home a Heartache”, “Out of the Blue”, a quick verse and chorus of both “Love is the Drug” and “More Than This”, a chilling “Avalon” and ended with “Editions of You”. The band sounded incredible and it was obvious that they enjoyed the night and the reaction of the crowd.
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| Phil Manzenara, Bryan Ferry |
Beginning with the 2018 ceremony, the Rock Hall, led by Steven Van Zandt, began inducting Hall of Fame Singles. Most of these are classic songs that deserve to be recognized even if the bands that performed them may not be Hall of Fame worthy. This year Van Zandt was on hand to induct “Maybe” from the Chantels, “Tequilla” from The Champs, Barrett Strong’s “Money”, The Isley Brothers version of “Twist & Shout”, “Leader of the Pack” from the Shangri-Las, and the Shadows of Knight take on “Gloria”. There was a brief technical issue with the sound during this segment, but Steve made it through.
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| Steve Van Zandt |
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| Trent Reznor |
The induction of the singles led into the video presenting The Cure. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails was on hand to deliver the induction speech and did an amazing job. Trent gave his personal story of discovering the band and how their dark lyrics resonated with him. Trent also took the opportunity to mention how the induction was a place where he felt he didn’t belong, but then followed it up with talking about how his opinion of the legitimacy of the Hall changed now that The Cure was recognized. Trent then brought all the members of the band up, Perry Bamonte, Jason Cooper, Michael Dempsey, Reeves Gabrels, Simon Gallup, Roger O’Donnell, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Lol Tolhurst, and Boris Williams to a thunderous applause, easily the biggest ovation of the night. Unsurprisingly, Robert Smith was the spokesperson of the band. Smith was beaming during his acceptance speech, he was very modest and seemed genuinely surprised at the honor. While all members were present, only the current version of the band performed. It would have been amazing to see a reunion with the classic members but it was not in the cards. The band kicked off a blistering set with “Shake Dog Shake” from the Top record as a tribute to Andy Anderson, drummer on that release who passed away in late February. Next was “A Forest”, “Love Song” “Just Like Heaven” and Boys Don’t Cry”. The crowd was into it and The Cure owned the stage.
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| Robert Smith |
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| Reeves Gabrels, Robert Smith |
As the crowd caught its collective breath after a great performance, the video for Janet Jackson began. Janelle Monae delivered the induction speech. Her speech mainly recited the statistics of Janet’s career and went on a little long, but stayed enjoyable due to Monae’s excitement, exuberance and personality. Janet’s acceptance went deep into her history and family. She spoke of watching her brother’s induction and gushed over her father’s influence on her career. She also ended with a call for the Hall to recognize more women in the future. Janet chose not to perform. the “official” reason was that she was deep in rehearsals for her Las Vegas residency but the buzz is that she did not perform because the show would be broadcast on HBO (April 27), the same network that aired a controversial documentary on her brother.
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| Janell Monet |
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| Janet Jackson |
The crowd was surprised that Janet didn’t perform as the video for the Zombies began. Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles was there to provide the induction speech. She gave a truly heartfelt speech ranging from how she discovered the band first hearing them in her mom’s car to how they influenced her own band. She went through each member’s contribution to the classic Zombies songs. The Zombies were the one band where all members got to speak. Writer and keyboardist Rod Argent talked about how thrilled he was to be in and that it was a genuine honor. Vocalist Colin Blunstone added his thank yous followed by Chris White and Hugh Grundy. As the band took the stage to play, augmented by the current touring version of The Zombies, their joy was obvious. They ran through a set of classics including “Time of the Season”, “This Will Be Our Year”, “Tell Her No” and “She’s Not There”. There was no denying how much this night meant to this band and they enjoyed every second of it.
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| Susanna Hoffs |
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| Rod Argent |
The traditional In Memorium break was up next. Surprisingly, there was no musical tribute to Aretha Franklin but her version of “Let It Be” played over the video of everyone we lost last year.
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| Brian May |
The last act of the night was the long awaited induction Def Leppard. Legendary Queen guitarist Brian May inducted the band. Brian gave a tremendous speech detailing his friendship with the band that goes back to the late 70’s. His speech was little long, and he did get the record that “Photograph” was on wrong (he said Hysteria but it was Pyromania) but the depth of his friendship and admiration for the band shone through. The current members took the stage to accept their induction, original guitarist Pete Willis did not show and Steve Clarke passed away in 1991. Joe Elliot spoke for the band and gave a great speech. He thanked all their parents and talked how how important they were to the success of the band, he thanked Pete and Steve and talked about the tremendous tragedy the band has endured. The emotional highlight of the night was the reaction of the crowd when drummer Rick Allen was given a close up as Joe talked about how he overcame his car accident. The applause was deafening as the tears flowed down Allen’s face. The band grabbed their instruments and launched into a hits filled set that got the crowd on its feet. They began with “Hysteria” into “Rock of Ages”, “Photograph” and “Pour Some Sugar On Me”.
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| Rick Allen, Phil Collen, Joe Elliot, Rick Savage, Vivian Campbell, Brian May |
As Def Leppard finished, Joe Elliot mentioned how Ceremonies of the past ended with a jam. He then called out Brian May, Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Steve Van Zandt, Susanna Hoffs, Phil Manzenara and surprise guest Ian Hunter for a run through of Hunter’s Mott The Hoople classic “All The Young Dudes”. This was the first jam since the 2015 induction and was a great way to end the 5 hour night!
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| Ian Hunter |
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| Rick Savage, Colin Blunstone, Susanna Hoffs |
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| Vivian Campbell, Phil Manzenara, Steve Van Zandt |
With an emphasis on music over speeches, the return of surprise guests and performances, a reunion of a band that hasn’t played together in a number of years and the return of the all star jam, the 2019 Induction was one of the best in recent memory. Bring on Cleveland in 2020!
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| Ian Hunter, Joe Elliot |
