Mike Smith of the Dave Clark Five died just two weeks shy of seeing this happen.
Madonna paid tribute to people who encouraged her and even the critics who said she wasn’t going to do well. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame by Justin Timberlake.
“Thirty-five years later, people are still encouraging me to believe in my dreams,” she said at the Waldorf Astoria induction ceremony. “What more could I ask for?”
Even the people who “said I was talentless, that I was chubby, that I couldn’t sing, that I was a one-hit wonder, they helped me, too,” she said. “They inspired me because they made me question myself repeatedly and pushed me to be better.”
Madonna didn’t perform on Monday night instead asking Iggy Pop and the Stooges to sing two of her songs, “Burning Up” and “Ray of Light.”
Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff wished for “peace” during their time on stage. Patti LaBelle sang “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” to introduce the songwriters. A variety of artists sang a melody of their popular soulful songs.
“There’s a little ‘Me and Mrs. Jones’ going on here in New York,” Gamble said to laughter, hours after New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was accused of hiring a prostitute.
The Ventures performed Walk, Don’t Run,” and “Hawaii Five-O.” John Fogerty recalled when he and the members of Creedence Clearwater Revival used to hang out in their garages learning how to play Venture tunes.
“When the Ventures first hit the radio, I would say I was gone,” Fogerty said. “The Ventures went on to record 250 albums. Think about that. These days, some of us would be happy to sell 250 albums.”
The Canadian Leonard Cohen is one of the world’s most respected songwriters. Lou Reed read several of the lyrics that Cohen had written while inducting the man into the Hall of Fame. Damien Rice sang the beloved “Hallelujah”.
“We’re so lucky to be alive at the same time Leonard Cohen is,” Reed said.
Cohen, dressed in a black tux, recited the lyrics to his song “Tower of Song” in a hushed voice.
“This is a very unlikely occasion for me,” he said. “It is not a distinction that I coveted or even dared dream about.”
John Mellencamp talked about his “Authority Song” which he played on stage with his son Speck.
“I wrote this song, and I still feel the same way today as I did when I wrote it 25 years ago,” Mellencamp said.
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