ROCK HALL'S GOT YOU, BABE

iHeartMedia President/Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Chairman John Sykes opened the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in the press room on Saturday (10/19) as the ceremony got underway at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, home of the Rock & Roll Hall Museum.

RRHoF CEO Greg Harris, who announced a 15,000-square-foot expansion of the Rock Hall, marveled at "the power and magic of rock & roll" while celebrating this year’s inductees: Cher, Kool & the Gang, Foreigner, the Dave Matthews Band, A Tribe Called Quest, Mary J. Blige, Peter Frampton and Ozzy Osbourne. The Musical Influence award went to blues heroes Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton. The late Jimmy Buffett, the MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield, meanwhile, were honored with the Musical Excellence award.

Zendaya gave an incredibly (incredibly) long speech to induct Cher. In fact, we might have fallen asleep for a few minutes and when we awoke, she was still talking. Dua Lipa hit the stage moments later, singing a verse from Cher’s 1998 hit “Believe” before the “I Got You Babe” icon joined her. Following the performance, Cher reminded everyone that she previously "didn’t give a fuck" about being inducted. Backstage, she admitted that she changed her tune when she saw the diversity of this year’s class. She also took the opportunity to understate that Sonny & Cher “were kinda corny.”

Public Enemy’s Chuck D inducted one of his favorite groups, Kool & the Gang, who proceeded to sail through a medley of their hits, including “Celebration,” “Get Down on It” and “Jungle Boogie.”

Teyana Taylor welcomed Warwick, who was apparently confused when she first found out she was being inducted. “I thought, ‘Why?’” she said. “I think I’m getting in for my music not because I am a rock and roller.”

Frampton came alive after The Who’s Roger Daltrey laughed his way through his introduction. We were mildly disappointed that Frampton didn’t give his acceptance speech using a talk box. He choked up as he reminded the audience, “We have no idea what [people are] dealing with in their lives. Kindness is king.”

After being introduced by Dave Chappelle, A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip and Jarobi had the audience in tears as they remembered their fallen member, Phife Dawg. The all-star tribute to Tribe included Busta Rhymes, Common, Queen Latifah and De La Soul's Posdnuos and Maseo.

Other highlights included Demi Lovato singing Foreigner’s “Feels Like the First Time” as Slash wailed on the guitar and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith murdered the drums; Keith Urban playing with Frampton on his 1973 hit “Do You Feel Like We Do”; powerhouse exec Suzanne de Passe (pictured here with our own Karen Glauber) graciously accepting the Ahmet Ertegun Award; an impassioned Jack Black fawning over King of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne and Jelly Roll singing “Mama, I’m Coming Home”; Dr. Dre and Method Man inducting Mary J. Blige; and Julia Roberts ushering in the Dave Matthews Band.

We also note that every musician who honored Ozzy was at the afterparty; likewise spotted there were Sykes, de Passe, Jimmy Jam, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation CEO Joel Peresman, Rob Light, Sharon Osborne, Michele Anthony, ABC head of music Scott Igoe, Rick Krim, Tom Corson and Laura Swanson, to name a few.

Despite the soggy veggie sandwiches and lukewarm Diet Cokes backstage, this year’s induction was recognition of another impressive collection of artists who, whatever one's definition of “rock & roll” may be, embody its rebellious spirit. As Chuck D said, “There’s rock and then there’s the roll.”

Pictured clockwise from top (l-r): Harris and Sykes, Cher and Dua Lipa, Frampton, Blige and de Passe and Glauber.