The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony begins with Cher honors

(AP) – Dua Lipa opened the Rock & Roll Hall Fame induction ceremony Saturday night in a skin-tight dress by singing Cher's “Believe,” only to give way to the singing icon, who emerged screaming. The two held hands during their brief duet, a cross-generational connection the hall always wanted to highlight.

In addition to Cher, new additions this year include Kool & the Gang, Mary J. Blige, A Tribe Called Quest, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Dave Matthews Band, the late Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Alexis Korner, the late John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton.

Zendaya introduced Cher. “Where do I even begin? “Cher is not a single person,” the actor said. “Her name is as legendary as her legacy.” Zendaya noted that Cher is the only woman to have a No. 1 hit on the Billboard charts in each of the last seven decades. “Cher has everything,” Zendaya said.

Saturday's induction ceremony will be held at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, where the hall has promised to return every few years. It will stream live on Disney+ and a special with performance highlights will air on ABC on January 1st.

It is said in the hall that the Dave Matthews Band, Blige, Foreigner, Frampton, Kool & the Gang and Warwick will be performing live. When the names of the nominees were read out before the television broadcast, it was the Dave Matthews Band that drew the biggest cheers in the room.

Cher – the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the last six decades – and Blige, with eight multi-platinum albums and nine Grammy awards, will help increase the number of women in the hall, which, according to critics, is also low.

Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before being considered for inclusion. More than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry professionals voted on the nominees.

John Sykes, president of entertainment operations at iHeartMedia and chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said Saturday that he and the Hall are trying to return inductions to rock's roots rather than expand the category.

“What I'm trying to do is bring the opening back to what it was like in the late '50s, where Brenda Lee and Hank Williams were right next to Fats Domino, Elvis Presley and the Beatles. There was this gumbo of artists back then. Over the years it somehow got tighter. All I can do is bring it back to its original roots.”

There was a brilliant push to bring Foreigner – with hits “Urgent” and “Hot Blooded” – into the hall, with Mark Ronson, Jack Black, Slash, Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney all publicly supporting the move. Ronson's stepfather is Mick Jones, founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of Foreigner.

Warwick will arrive for the ceremony just days after attending a memorial service for her longtime friend and collaborator Cissy Houston in Newark, New Jersey. Jennifer Hudson and Teyana Taylor will help her launch.

Other rock, pop and hip-hop royalty will be on hand to kick off the class, including Busta Rhymes, Dr. Dre, Demi Lovato, Dua Lipa, Ella Mai, James Taylor, Jelly Roll, Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney, Lucky Daye, Mac McAnally, Method Man, Roger Daltrey, Sammy Hagar, Slash and The Roots.

Julia Roberts will help form the Dave Matthews Band – she's a self-confessed superfan and appeared in the band's video for the band's 2005 single “Dreamgirl.” Dua Lipa will do the same for Cher and Busta Rhymes will perform with A Tribe Called Quest.

Although no country act will be featured this year, country artists will be featured. Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally will team up to pay tribute to Buffett, while Urban will play in honor of Frampton. Meanwhile, Hagar revealed that he will be part of the team introducing Foreigner and will sing “Hot Blooded.”