Nirvana and KISS are among some of the newest inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The 29th induction ceremony happened on April 10 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. For the first time, the ceremony fans got to celebrate the accomplishments from some of their favorite musicians.
The two living members of Nirvana, Dave Grohl and Kris Novoselic, were at the ceremony to receive this honor. The band members paid tribute to their fallen lead singer, Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide two decades ago.
“I want to say thank you to Kurt Cobain,” Grohl said at the ceremony. “And I wish he was here tonight, O.K.?”
Grohl and Novoselic were both seen getting emotional on stage as they were honored.
“He’d be so proud,” Wendy Cobain, the late musician’s mother, said. “He’d say he wasn’t, but he would be.”
Michael Stipe, R.E.M lead singer, inducted the band into the hall of fame. Stipe summed up the general motive behind Nirvana’s music.
“Nirvana defined a movement for the outsiders…they were artists in every sense of the word,” Stipe said. “They spoke the truth and a lot of people listened.”
Grohl, now lead singer of Foo Fighters, and Novoselic preformed four Nirvana songs for the first time since Cobain’s death. They featured four women singers for each of the songs.
Joan Jett sang a powerful rendition of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Kim Gordon sang “Aneurysm,” Annie Clark preformed a rendition of “Lithium” and Lorde finished the night with a crowd-pleasing performance of “All Apologies.”
A picture of Cobain was displayed through the performances.
“For once, I’m speechless,” said Grohl in a statement about the induction. “From the basements, to the dingy clubs, to the broken down vans…to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’d like to thank the committee not only for this induction, but also for recognizing Nirvana for what we were: pure rock and roll.”
All four original members of KISS were also inducted to the hall of fame. Ace Freehley, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Kriss were honored.
“We are humbled,” Simmons said. “We’re being inducted for the things we kept out for.”
Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine guitarist, inducted the band into the hall of fame. The band’s induction came 15 years after they were eligible to be inducted, and Morello stated how proud he was to see them finally be honored.
“In the past, the Hall has not been there for fans of hard rock and metal music,” Morello said. “Our heroes have not been represented. Last year with the induction of Rush, this year with the induction of KISS, and who knows next year with Deep Purple or Iron Maiden or Judas Priest, the Hall will come to better reflect one of the strongest limbs in the tree of rock…They took a huge stride in that direction tonight. Tonight is not just a great night for KISS, it’s a great night for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
The four members showed up to the event in black attire without make-up, a rare sight. They also decided not to play at the induction because it was unfair to the current members of the band, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, who were not being inducted. Singer and Thayer replaced Freehley and Kriss in 2008.
Other musicans that were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were Cat Stevens, Hall and Oates, Peter Gabriel and Linda Ronstadt. The induction will air on HBO sometime in May.
