What better way to start the 2024 Rock Hall ceremony than with one of the world’s biggest pop stars performing a cover of another of the world’s biggest pop stars with the world’s biggest hits? Wearing a skin-tight black dress, Dua Lipa brought the audience to their feet with a rendition of Cher’s “Believe.” As the bridge passed, Cher herself came out in a leather bustier and black chaps and helped Dua finish the song in fabulous fashion. For those who wanted to see the 78-year-old icon perform solo, Cher made sure to give them an encore before accepting her induction into the Rock Hall and performing a rousing rendition of “If I Could Turn Back Time” to a screaming crowd .

Known for her sharp wit, Cher spared no one during her induction speech – including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame itself. Speaking about her long-awaited induction into the hall, Cher said it felt harder than it should be would have to. “It was easier to divorce two men than to get inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” she joked. “I want to thank David Geffen because he wrote a letter and sent it to the directors and now, ha ha, here I am!”

When two of the original members of Kool & the Gang finally reunited on stage at Saturday’s ceremony, you could feel the excitement. James JT Taylor and Robert “Kool” Bell made the most of their introduction to the hall, launching into an absolutely rousing medley of their greatest hits. The band jumped on stage in bedazzled shirts and collars and performed “Hollywood Swinging,” “Get Down on It,” “Ladies Night” and “Jungle Boogie” before closing their stellar performance with a bang of “Celebration.”

During an extensive performance of some of her biggest hits, legendary singer-songwriter Dionne Warwick tapped none other than Jennifer Hudson to join her on her classic “I’ll Never Love This Way Again.” As they repeated and belted out the final verses of the iconic track, the two brought the audience to a standing ovation when they were finished.

We could have just had Rick Wills, Lou Gramm and Al Greenwood on stage and that would have been a great performance by Foreigner. But instead, alongside the legendary rock group’s actors, we had a bevy of rock and pop superstars stopping by to perform some of their biggest hits. Chad Smith belted out the drums, Slash played guitar, and a rotating cast of pop stars dropped by to lend their voices to the iconic songs. Demi Lovato joined in to sing the chorus of “Feels Like the First Time,” Sammy Hagar stepped up for a raucous rendition of “Hot Blooded,” and Kelly Clarkson closed the tribute with a phenomenal version of “I Want to Know What Love.” Is” off.”

After Pearl Jam’s Michael McCready declared that he belonged in the “pantheon of guitarists” alongside Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, Peter Frampton triumphantly took the stage to perform some of his greatest hits, starting with “Baby (Something’s”) Happening).”

The best moment of the performance, however, came when Keith Urban joined the legendary guitarist on stage for a guitar sparring duet to “Do You Feel Like We Do.” The pair traded licks back and forth (and even pulled out a talkbox for the song’s iconic breakdown), making for one of the best rock performances of the night.

Dave Matthews served double duty at Saturday’s ceremony: He was present as both a new addition and an artist, and he paid tribute to one of the greats: Jimmy Buffett. Armed with his acoustic guitar, Matthews took the stage and said a tearful goodbye to the legendary tropical rock singer. “I’m so happy to be here to honor Jimmy,” he said, fighting back tears. “He made everyone feel special. He made me feel very special. I wish he could be here, but it’s too late.”

Matthews opened with “a song he wrote about being late” and gave a sweet, dark rendition of Buffett’s song “A Pirate Looks at Forty.” With the image of rippling waves behind him, Matthews made good on his promise and left more than a few of the star-studded audience visibly teary-eyed.

In his opening speech to introduce groundbreaking hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, comedian Dave Chappell was clear about the group’s influence on music: “I know this is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but this movement is hip .” “-Hop was the birth of so many great artists,” he said before pointing to the band. “And it started with these men sitting at this table.”

In his impassioned speech, Chapelle explained the foundations and genesis of the band, emphasizing the emergence of Native Tongues as a cultural touchstone for modern hip-hop. But he saved his most emotional remarks for last, when he thanked the band for everything they had done for him personally, especially after the death of founding member Phife Dawg. “Tribe, I want to thank you for your service. “What you did for our culture means the world to me, but what you did for me changed my life,” he said. “You shared your platform with me and invited me to appear with you on Saturday Night Live, and that brought me back to television after 12 years in the cold. And I will always be grateful to you.”

Even after Chappelle’s touching remarks and the band’s moving speech, the fun wasn’t over for A Tribe Called Quest. A veritable who’s who of hip-hop royalty took the stage to celebrate the hip-hop crew’s incredible influence. To kick things off, De La Soul’s DJ Maseo and Queen Latifah – accompanied by The Roots – delivered a high-energy performance of “Can I Kick It?”, with Latifah taking on the over-the-top energy of Q-Tip’s verses.

Immediately after, Black Thought and De La Soul’s Kelvin Mercer turned things up with a tribute to “Check the Rhime,” trading Q and Phife’s verses back and forth before Common capped off their performance with one of his own to “Bonita Applebum.” And in a fiery final moment, Busta Rhymes appeared on stage to help the group deliver a stunning rendition of the group’s legendary posse cut “Scenario,” bringing the entire audience to their feet.

Mary J. Blige was founded by Dr. Dre and Method Man were introduced as an artist who “single-handedly created a whole new genre of music” and proved them right with her outstanding performance. Wearing a diamond-encrusted bodysuit, Blige and a group of her backup dancers danced around the stage to her hit “My Life” before Ella Mai took the stage for a duet to her song “Love No Limit.” But it wasn’t until her closing tracks – “Be Happy” and “Family Affair” – that Mary J. Blige earned the praise of Method Man, who openly screamed as he left the stage: “You killed that shit.”

After refusing to “bore you with a long, drawn-out fucking monologue,” Ozzy Osbourne watched as his legacy as “the greatest frontman in history” (as Jack Black put it) was honored by a parade of some of the biggest names in rock music. Beginning with Maynard James Keenan and Wolfgang Van Halen’s performance of his legendary hit “Crazy Train,” artists such as Jelly Roll and Robert Trujillo (“Mama, I’m Coming Home”), Billy Idol and Zakk Wylde (“No More Tears”) performed ) on “) and others come to welcome the introduction of the Prince of Darkness himself.

After a hilarious induction from Julia Roberts — which included the story of her misadventures Googling the band she was honoring — the Dave Matthews Band closed out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony with a glorious jam. No special guests or surprise moments; It was simply the band doing exactly what their fans wanted to see them do. The band performed a number of their most popular tracks (“Ants Marching,” “Crash Into Me,” “So Much to Say,” and “Too Much”) and treated the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse stage like another stage for them to conquer. And they won – at several points Matthews stopped singing to let the cheering crowd happily sing her songs to him.

Even after Matthews gave his heartfelt speech thanking everyone involved for joining the band, the band still wasn’t done. Dave explained that they would be playing “walking away music” – and in honor of that, they offered a heated rendition of the Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House.” Stop making sense40th anniversary.