CLEVELAND (AP) — Dua Lipa in a slinky dress opened the Rock & Roll Hall Fame induction ceremony on Saturday night singing Cher's “Believe” only to give way to to the actor-singing icon, who emerged to blistering screams. The two held hands during their brief duet, a connection across generations the Hall has always hoped to spotlight.
The inductees this year in addition to Cher are: Kool & the Gang, Mary J. Blige, A Tribe Called Quest, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Dave Matthews Band, the late Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick, Alexis Korner, the late John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton.
Zendaya inducted Cher. “Where do I even begin? Cher is not one person,” the actor said. "Her name is just as legendary as her legacy." Zendaya noted that Cher is the only woman to have a No. 1 hit on a Billboard chart in each of the past seven decades. "Cher has got the goods," Zendaya said.
Saturday's induction ceremony is being held at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, where the Hall has promised to return to every few years. It streams live on Disney+ and a special with performance highlights will air on ABC on Jan. 1.
The Hall says the Dave Matthews Band, Blige, Foreigner, Frampton, Kool & the Gang and Warwick will be performing live. When the names of the nominees were read before the telecast, it was the Dave Matthews Band that got the biggest cheer in the auditorium.
Cher — the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the past six decades — and Blige, with eight multi-platinum albums and nine Grammy Awards, will help boost the number of women in the Hall, which critics say is too low.
Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction. Nominees were voted on by more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry professionals.
John Sykes, president of entertainment enterprises at iHeartMedia and the chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said Saturday that he and the Hall are trying to bring the inductions back to rock's roots, not expand the category.
“What I’m trying to do is bring over the aperture back up to where it was in the late '50s, where you had Brenda Lee and Hank Williams right next to Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, the Beatles. It was, at that time, this gumbo of artists. It kind of narrowed down over the years. All I can do is bring it back to its original roots.”
There had been a starry push to get Foreigner — with the hits “Urgent” and “Hot Blooded” — into the Hall, with Mark Ronson, Jack Black, Slash, Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney all publicly backing the move. Ronson’s stepfather is Mick Jones, Foreigner’s founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist.
Warwick will arrive at the ceremony only a few days after attending a memorial to her longtime friend and collaborator, Cissy Houston, in Newark, New Jersey. Jennifer Hudson and Teyana Taylor will help induct her.
Other members of rock, pop and hip-hop royalty will be on hand to help usher the class in, including Busta Rhymes, Dr. Dre, Demi Lovato,Dua Lipa, Ella Mai, James Taylor, Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Lucky Daye, Mac McAnally, Method Man, Roger Daltrey, Sammy Hagar, Slash and The Roots.
Julia Roberts will help induct the Dave Matthews Band — she's a self-avowed superfan and she appeared in the band’s video for the 2005 single, “Dreamgirl.” Dua Lipa will be doing the same for Cher and Busta Rhymes will be performing with A Tribe Called Quest.
While no country act is being inducted this year, country artists will be heard. Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally will team up to pay tribute to Buffett, while Urban will play in honor of Frampton. Meanwhile, Hagar revealed he'll be part of the team inducting Foreigner and will sing “Hot Blooded.”
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press