YES, Journey, Pearl Jam & More Join Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
By Scott Bernstein Apr 8, 2017 • 7:23 am PDT
The 2017 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony was held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Friday night. Electric Light Orchestra, Joan Baez, Tupac Shakur, Journey, Nile Rodgers, YES and Pearl Jam were honored with speeches and performances as each act now takes its place in the Rock Hall.
Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner started the evening and talked about the recently passed Chuck Berry, who was the first inductee into the institution back in 1986. ELO then took the stage and performed Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” as well as their own “Evil Woman” and “Mr. Blue Sky” before Dhani Harrison introduced Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood. Jackson Browne had the honor of inducting Joan Baez who treated the crowd to a rendition of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.” Baez was joined by The Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter for “Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)” and The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush inducted YES, while Lee joined the band for a rendition of “Roundabout” before leaving the stage ahead of “Owner Of A Lonely Heart.” Next up was a speech inducting Tupac into the Rock Hall from Snoop Dogg. The evening continued on with Train’s Pat Monahan inducting Journey. While Steve Perry was on stage to receive the honor with the other members of Journey, he did not perform with the band. Journey played a series of hits including “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “Lights” with current lead singer Arnel Pineda. Former members Anysley Dunbar and Gregg Rolie did perform “Lights” with Journey.
Producer/singer Pharrell Williams had the pleasure of inducting Nile Rodgers, while as reported David Letterman did the honors for Pearl Jam. Letterman joked about replacing Neil Young and talked about the power of live music as part of his speech inducting the Seattle rockers. Pearl Jam reunited with original drummer Dave Krusen on “Alive” and also performed “Given To Fly,” “Better Man” and Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World.” The latter number was the evening’s “super jam” moment as members of Rush, Journey, YES and Dhani Harrison joined in.
