Cleveland (AP) — Bon Jovi reunited onstage with former members on April 14 for a powerful performance celebrating their admission into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and the late icon Nina Simone was welcomed to the prestigious music club with show-stopping performances from Lauryn Hill and Andra Day.
After an hour-long performance by the band, frontman Jon Boni Jovi gave a lengthy speech onstage, saying he had been writing the speech for years.
“Some days I write the ‘Thank you’ speech, sometimes I write the ‘(Expletive) you’ speech,” he said. “In the end, it’s all about time. It took a lot of people to get us here tonight.”
Richie Sambora, who left the New Jersey band in 2013, and Alec John Such, who left in 1994, embraced their former bandmates with a hug after each one spoke onstage to accept the honor. They performance included crowd favorites like “Livin’ on a Prayer,” ‘’You Give Love a Bad Name” and “It’s My Life.”
They were inducted by Howard Stern, who provided many laughs to the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, where the Rock Hall is based.
Simone, who died in 2003, was welcomed into the Rock Hall in a groundbreaking way from performers who she has deeply inspired, from Hill to Mary J. Blige.
Hill was exceptional, stretching her voice as wide as possible, and singing in French, in honor of Simone’s music. Hill earned a standing ovation from the audience.
Simone was a leader in pushing for civil rights and influenced everyone from Aretha Franklin to Alicia Keys. Her brother, Sam Waymon, accepted the honor on his sister’s behalf.
The 33rd annual Rock Hall ceremony kicked off with a tribute to Tom Petty, who died in October at age 66. The Killers earned a loud applause from the audience when they started performing “American Girl,” then transitioning to “Free Fallin’.”
Later in the event, Ann Wilson of Heart and Jerry Cantrell honored Chris Cornell with a commanding rendition of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun.” Cornell hanged himself in a Detroit hotel hours after a Soundgarden concert there last May.
The Cars and four first-time nominees, including Simone, Dire Straits, The Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, make up the 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class.
Rock Hall voters have recently opened their hearts to progressive rockers, which benefited “Nights in White Satin” singers The Moody Blues, the last act to be inducted this year.
Wilson of Heart said the English rockers “are and have always been a kick ass rock band.”
Another English band, Dire Straits, were inducted at the event, but it was without leader Mark Knopfler, or his brother David Knopfler. Onstage, guitarist John Illsley said of Mark’s absence: “I’ll assure you it’s a personal thing. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Illsley thanked the entire band and described the group as “a collective, a brotherhood.” The band did not perform after speaking.
Brandon Flowers of the Killers, who has covered The Cars’ songs at his shows, was ecstatic and energetic as he inducted the band into the Rock Hall, even getting on his knee to hand the members their award as they walked onstage.
The Cars, founded in Boston in 1976 and known for combining New Wave and classic rock sounds, were inducted this year after being nominated twice before.
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