Rock Hall Mints Diverse 2022 Class: Almost Six-Hour Show Offers Calls for Tolerance & Women’s Rights, Highlighted By Amazing Musical Performances

John Mellencamp stood on stage at Saturday’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and made an impassioned speech inducting uber-attorney Allen Grubman, talking about leveling up the playing field for artists, his deep caring for his clients and the raving way he could make a point. Then Mellencamp dug in and made a most hard-hitting call for anti-antisemitism, worthy of a fiery revivalist preacher.

Grubman, whose induction had been controversially maligned by Rolling Stone co-founder and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame co-founder Jann Wenner, sat with tears in his eyes, then they rolled down his face listening to such a personal endorsement. A founder of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, whose clients have included Bruce Springsteen, U2, Mariah Carey, Sting, Madonna and fellow 2022 inductee Lionel Richie among many, Grubman’s advocacy was clearly pivotal. For those who wondered “Was this the place?,” Mellencamp’s blast seemed the perfect evocation of the legal champion. It also spoke to a night of across the board advocacy from the inductees whose speeches spoke to speaking out and standing up.

Mellencamp’s repeated refrain – “Silence is complicity” – was loud and clear as he urged artists “to speak out against all forms of bigotry and hatred.” For perhaps the most diverse group to enter in what could be considered a true MTV-era Rock Hall class, this year’s inductees wanted to make the moment matter – and encourage those in attendance to really think about how we impact the world around us, lift or hold others down and can use music to help inspire a better culture.

Neil Giraldo used his time during his acceptance speech to vehemently urge those who felt bullied, beaten down or unseen to pick up an instrument and play, to use music as a force for better and music education to expand knowledge. Sarah Bareilles made her point silently: inducting Carly Simon, she sported a pin that proclaimed “Bans Off My Body,” invoking a woman’s right to autonomy, starting with reproductive freedom.

After Alice Cooper eloquently talked up Judas Priest’s impact on hard rock from fashion to song structure for their Musical Excellence inclusion, the Manchester leather-clad, hook-slinging metal mavens thrashed through “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.” Lead vocalist Rob Halford’s first words upon taking the stage were, “I’m the gay guy in the band.” He then praised the tolerance and inclusion in the hard rock community; acknowledging they may look scary, he spoke of welcome for all who come to rock, those who respond to the power and the emotion.

Dr. Dre inducting Eminem made the case for reverse color-blindness, speaking of his shock that the Detroit rapper was white – and the resistance of the label to signing a kid with blue eyes. Dre’s response was simple and speaks to the power of seeing beyond bias: “He’s going to be the biggest selling act on this label.”

Dre was wrong, though. Citing 220 million albums sold globally, Dre informed the Microsoft Theater audience his signee was “the biggest selling rapper in the world.”

Like LL Cool J last year, Eminem toppled the night. Opening with “Rap God,” Steven Tyler emerged to live sample the chorus of “Dream On” on “Sing for the Moment,” followed by Ed Sheeran who sang and played acoustic guitar on a tender, but unsettling “Stan.” The closing “Not Afraid” said everything.

Transformation and transcendence, those were the touchstones. How music shapes and ignites change; how artists create vectors for suburban kids – like a truly stoked Sheryl Crow, who brought the 1980 Rolling Stone cover of Giraldo and Benatar and offered that Benatar changed how she approached being a woman who makes music – to live, dream and explode from.

Just as Carly Simon’s songs of escaping Upper Middle Class female expectations soundtracked the first wave of feminism and Benatar’s blow-torch personal and sexual independence put men on notice, their songs resonated for Bareilles and Olivia Rodrigo, while Dolly Parton’s song of pride in small acts of love in spite of Appalachian poverty “Coat of Many Colors” opened a well of glowing emotions in the hands of Washington state’s Brandi Carlile and Philadelphia’s P!nk, two of modern music’s most groundbreaking female songwriters and vocalists.

Even Lionel Richie, hilariously and soulfully inducted by Lenny Kravitz, broke down perceptions; both men speaking of wanting to be creative, more than working to what was asked. Richie addressed repeatedly being told he wasn’t Black enough, but also the admonishment “this will destroy your career.” For him, that was always the choice to make, and the Calypso-breakdown “All Night Long” – which had the industry crowd truly dancing in the aisles – proved that what the suits and those who play it safe don’t recognize is the euphoria music delivers.

Is Richie rock ’n’ roll? The man who thanked his first band, ’70s funk/pop stalwarts the Commodores, for teaching him that lesson and trusting his instincts, posited “Rock ’n’ roll is not a color; it’s a feeling, it’s a vibe.” Perhaps that’s as insurrectionist as anything.

Duran Duran, elected by their loyal Durannies by over a million votes, brought moxie and DIY punk charm to kick off the show. When a sound failure left the instruments largely out of the house, Simon Le Bon gamely kept singing “Girls On Film” as if it was a show apex. Joking about letting people know they weren’t “tracking,” the fashion-forward quartet who’d drawn fans to the Microsoft Theater like magnets proved to be a leaner, meaner band than given credit for.

Stepping up to accept, Le Bon read a note from the missing Andy Taylor – acknowledging for the first time a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis. The sobering moment made the band’s genuine connection palpable; this was a moment for all, no matter what may have happened over the years, who came, who left, who endured – they were Duran Duran.

And then there was Dolly! No one can steal a show like the 76-year sex bomb with the blond hair piled high. Emerging in her black leather catsuit, she debuted “I’ve Been Rockin’” to the euphoric crowd, detailing the early rockers she loved and her commitment to keep going. That alone, black bejeweled electric guitar slung low would’ve been plenty.

But the odd/perfect choice of “Jolene” drafted for the group jam spoke volumes. More than a fraught song about a hot hussy after her man, seeing Carlile, Lennox, LeBon and Benatar taking verses made a gender-bender/sexual orientation defying climax that was sheer genius. To see the swaggering Halford gazing adoringly at Parton like a baby lamb alone was beyond exquisite.

As all things evolve, thus does the definition of “rock ’n’ roll.” While Bruce Springsteen and Mellencamp’s requiem homage to the late Jerry Lee Lewis – performed moments after the finale – spoke to rock’s original fire, this class with its diversity and passion offered a sense that the rejection of tropes, standard definitions, desire to speak one’s truth and a fury for musical self-expression will continue, keeping music blazing for decades to come.

SEE MORE:
Rock Hall Special 2022: In Conversation With Dolly, Cara Lewis On Eminem, Q&A With Eurythmics’ Lennox And Stewart, Eskowitz Talks Lionel Richie & More