Cher (left) and Dua Lipa perform during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 39th annual induction ceremony Saturday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

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CLEVELAND – Pure pop opened the Rock & Roll Hall Fame induction ceremony Saturday as Dua Lipa and Cher sang “Believe” before giving way to a medley of rump shaking from funk masters Kool & the Gang and rock classics from Foreigner and Peter Frampton and a powerful performance from gospel icon Dionne Warwick that brought the house to 83.

This year’s inductees in a five-hour ceremony also included: Mary J. Blige, A Tribe Called Quest, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Matthews Band and posthumous tributes to Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Alexis Korner, John Mayall, Norman Whitfield and Big Mama Thornton.

“Where do I even begin? Cher is not a single person,” Zendaya said when introducing Cher. “Her name is as legendary as her legacy.” Zendaya noted that Cher, 78, is the only woman to have a No. 1 hit on the Billboard charts in each of the last seven decades. “Cher has what it takes,” Zendaya said before the singer performed a rocking version of “If I Could Turn Back Time.”

In her speech, Cher said she was inspired by Cinderella and thanked her mother for teaching her to always get back up after defeat. “The one thing I learned from my mother is to never give up,” she said. “I never give up. I talk to the women – in and out, we move on.”

Julia Roberts helped 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.” Roberts, wearing a band T-shirt, said the group’s appeal was “spontaneous devotion,” adding that it was the first time she danced with her husband to a Dave Matthews Band song.

The jam band, with its mix of funk, folk-rock, jazz, blues and pop, then played “Ants Marching” – prompting the crowd to sing the chorus – “Crash” and “So Much to Say.” When they took the stage after midnight, the arena was still full, the audience singing and swaying.

Matthews hugged Roberts, handed out trophies to his bandmates and called the conclusion of 2024 impressive. “We are swimming in very deep water here,” he said. He thanked the band’s current and former members and the bar owner who gave them a home in Charlottesville, Virginia. When he thanked the fans, they roared back.

Mary J. Blige speaks during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 39th annual induction ceremony Saturday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

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Dr. Dre introduced Blige, who is credited with creating an entirely new category of music – hip-hop soul. The nine-time Grammy winner’s best-known song is “Family Affair” from her 2001 triple-platinum album “No More Drama.” “Listening to Mary makes you realize you’re not alone in your grief,” Dre said.

Wearing a shiny black hat, sparkly dress and long black gloves and boots, Blige sang a mix of her hits including “Love No Limit,” “Be Happy” and “Family Affair.” At the end of her performance, a dancer produced a cape inspired by James Brown, which she wrapped around herself. She thanked her fans, her mother – a single mother raising children in the projects – and Method Man and Dr. Dre, who helped her win a Grammy and an Emmy. “Move with grace. Trust the journey,” she advised. “You’re worth it.”

Introducing Kool & the Gang, Chuck D said, “This is a long overdue celebration.” The band had 12 Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the 1980 chart-topper “Celebration,” as well as “Cherish,” “Get Down On It,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Ladies Night,” and “Joanna.” They have been admitted to the hall since 1994.

The Roots helped the band compose a medley of hits that got the audience grooving under the leadership of Robert “Kool” Bell – bass guitarist, co-founder and final founding member – and longtime vocalist James “JT” Taylor. Confetti shot into the arena and Taylor asked the crowd to use their cell phone lights as he read out the names of ten members who were crucial to the band’s success.

Robert “Kool” Bell of Kool & the Gang performs during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 39th annual induction ceremony Saturday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

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Warwick came to the ceremony just days after attending a memorial service for her longtime friend and collaborator Cissy Houston in Newark, New Jersey. Teyana Taylor called her “truly unique” and chided the teleprompter operator for not putting “Ms.” before her name. Jennifer Hudson sang “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” and Warwick also sang “Walk On By.”

Warwick said this was her third time being nominated for the hall. “I’m really happy to be here,” she said. “I’ll just say this and leave the stage: Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Dave Chappelle helped launch A Tribe Called Quest – Q-Tip, Jarobi, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and the late Phife Dawg – the only hip-hop group to make it this year. Chappelle said the group “incorporated jazz and soul in a way that hip-hop had never seen” and that they also proved that you could be “cool and not necessarily a gangster.” Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Common, The Roots and De La Soul were on hand to perform a medley of Tribe hits including “Bonita Applebum,” “Scenario” and “Can I Kick It?”

Sammy Hagar introduced Foreigner and thanked her fans for their persistence in demanding inclusion. The English-American rockers – with hits like “Cold as Ice” and “Waiting for a Girl Like You” – topped the charts in the 1970s and 1980s but never made it into the Hall – let alone one – until last year Election, even though they have been eligible for more than 20 years.

Hagar noted that Foreigner is currently touring without original members. “The songs are that good,” he said. “Who deserves this more than Foreigner?” Demi Lovato and Slash joined the touring Foreigner on “Feels Like the First Time” and Hagar then took the lead on “Hot Blooded.” Kelly Clarkson wowed with a powerful “I Want to Know What Love Is,” but the arena erupted when she was joined by original singer Lou Gramm. Gramm thanked guitarist Mick Jones, who had to take a break from New York due to Parkinson’s disease.

Saturday’s induction ceremony was held at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, where the hall has promised to return every few years. A TV special with performance highlights will air on ABC on January 1st.

Jack Black (left) and Ozzy Osbourne perform during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 39th annual induction ceremony Saturday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

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Roger Daltrey of The Who introduced Frampton. “It’s high time!” he said. “Peter had the greatest career ever. It’s probably easier to name the people he didn’t work with than the people he did work with,” Daltrey said.

Frampton earned his place in the Hall in large part thanks to his 1976 live double album “Frampton Comes Alive!”, which featured the hits “Show Me the Way” and “Baby, I Love Your Way.” Daltrey noted that Frampton always played with a big smile.

A suitably grinning Frampton – who performed at last year’s ceremony honoring Sheryl Crow – got Keith Urban to trade licks on “Do You Feel Like I Do,” showing why he’s considered one of rock’s greatest guitarists . He turned on his famous talkbox effect and the crowd roared. “I’m really lucky to have this great career,” he said, thanking David Bowie for reviving his professional life after it fell apart.

Dave Matthews – with encouragement from his band – helped honor Buffett with an acoustic version of the late singer-songwriter’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty.” James Taylor described Buffett – who popularized Beachbums soft rock with the escapist song “Margaritaville” – as “larger than life, but at the same time really big and always authentic”. Taylor, Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally then performed Buffett’s “Come Monday.”

Musician and actor Jack Black toasted Osbourne and said that “the heavens opened up above me” when he heard the album “Blizzard of Ozz” for the first time. Black called Osbourne “the Jack Nicholson of rock” and joked that his reality TV show “The Osbournes” may have been “the nastiest thing he’s ever done.”

Osbourne, seated on a throne, owed his career and life to the late guitarist Randy Rhodes and his wife Sharon. This is the second time Ozzy has taken to the hall, the first time in 2006 with seminal metal band Black Sabbath, a tribute band to the Prince of Darkness – including Jelly Roll, Billy Idol, Maynard James Keenan, Wolfgang Van Halen and Steve Stevens, Robert Trujillo and Chad Smith – performed “Crazy Train,” “Mama, I’m Coming Home” and “No More Tears.”

The “In Memoriam” section included tributes to Kris Kristofferson, Cissy Houston, David Sanborn and Liam Payne, among others. The Dave Matthews Band played “Burning Down the House” as fans filed out.