NEW YORK ā In a normal year, the newly inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class would have hit the stage and perform the well-known songs that made them famous and helped them enter the prestigious organization.
Not in 2020.
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Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this yearās all-star group was inducted Saturday night in a taped HBO special that told the stories of Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G. and the Doobie Brothersā rise to fame and how acts like Nine Inch Nails, T. Rex and Depeche Mode heavily impacted the music industry and generations after them.
As she inducted Houston into the Rock Hall, Grammy-winning singer Alicia Keys gave a beautiful, heartfelt speech about one of the best singers in pop history.
āWe all know what a miraculous singer Whitney was, perhaps the greatest voice of our all-time. We all know how her unprecedented success brought Black women into the absolute highest reaches of the music industryās pantheon,ā said Keys, who wrote a song for Houstonās last album. āWe all know that her music will live forever ā that music, that everlasting voice is her final generous gift to us. And she will now be one of the brightest lights ever to shine in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.ā
Houston, one of the best-selling acts in music history who died in 2012 at age 48, released her debut album in 1985 and recently became the first Black artist to have three diamond-certified albums.
Her mother and aunt, Cissy and Pat Houston, accepted the award on her behalf.
āThis is something that Whitney always wanted,ā Pat Houston said. āI remember in 2009 we were in London and Whitney looked at me and said, āThis is really special but thereās only one thing missing ā I got to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.āā
āShe did it,ā Cissy Houston added.
Other acts were posthumously inducted Saturday night.
The Notorious B.I.G. was shot to death in 1997 at 24 and in a few years became one of the top voices in rap and pop. He was inducted by close friend and collaborator Diddy.
āNobody has come close to the way Biggie sounds, to the way he raps, to the frequency that he hits. Tonight, we are inducting the greatest rapper of all-time,ā Diddy said.
Nas said B.I.G. ārepresents Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, New York City, America, the world and he represents the Black experience.ā Jay-Z recalled when B.I.G. sent him a demo of āLife After Death,ā his second and final album that was released 16 days after his death, explaining: āI was a little worried for myself as an artist.ā
āItās just really unfortunate what happened after that,ā continued Jay-Z. āThe human side of him came through in his music and I think it moved the molecules in the world. I know for a fact it pointed me in the (right) direction and Iām sure thatās happened to millions and millions of people worldwide.ā
The Notorious B.I.G.ās son and daughter, C.J. and Tāyanna Wallace, accepted the honor. The son of T. Rexās Marc Bolan, who died in 1977 at 29, was also on hand to pay tribute to his father with a touching speech.
āAs I reflect on this incredible honor of my dad and his band being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I think about how I really didnāt have a chance to know him very well. He was taken away from all of us so early in his life,ā Rolan Bolan said. āI discovered his music pretty much the same way you have ā through my eyes and ears.ā
The British band T. Rex was known primarily for its 1970s hit āBang a Gong (Get It On)ā and, to a lesser extent, āJeepster.ā They were inducted by Ringo Starr.
T. Rex, Houston, B.I.G. and the Doobie Brothers were inducted after being on the ballot for the first time. The Doobie Brothersā inclusion makes 2020 historic for the band ā itās also their 50th anniversary. The group known for hits like āListen to the Musicā and āBlack Waterā were supposed to celebrate this year with a tour featuring singer-songwriter Michael McDonald ā who sang with the band starting in 1975 before beginning his own solo career ā but it was postponed because of the pandemic.
āIt seems unreal, but itās been quite a trip and we arenāt done yet,ā Tom Johnston said.
Itās also been a good year for Nine Inch Nails ā their induction comes two months after Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won their first Emmy for their musical contributions to the hit HBO series āWatchmen.ā Reznor and Ross are also Oscar and Grammy winners, only needing a Tony to enter the esteemed EGOT club.
Rick Rubin, Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Iovine, David Fincher, Mark Ronson and others spoke passionately about Nine Inch Nailsā influence on them and others.
āWhat a disoriented, strange year we find ourselves in. As Iāve been wrapping my head around Nine Inch Nails being welcomed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I think I was most looking forward to the ceremony itself, where hopefully the whole camp, past and present, was going to get together and have a moment, and weāre all stuck in our little boxes here in our screens,ā Reznor said. āBut even now musicās always been the thing that keeps me going.ā
Oscar winner Charlize Theron inducted Depeche Mode, whose biggest influence came in the 1980s when their post-punk, synthesizer-dominated music made the Brits a favorite of the goth subculture. Theron thanked the band āfor being the soundtrack of my life.ā
Dave Grohl, Bruce Springsteen, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani and Brad Paisley also made appearances during the TV special. Top-notch music manager Irving Azoff and Jon Landau, who manages Springsteen, both earned the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
The Rock Hallās annual induction ceremony was originally supposed to take place in May at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, the city where the rock museum is located.