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With a run time of over three hours, The 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on HBO Max is like a hangout movie for fans of music and awards shows. It’s got everything those fans need, though, with high-profile recording artists offering live and taped testimonials to the work of this year’s inductees, a list that includes Duran Duran, Eminem, Dolly Parton, and Carly Simon. There are live performances, too, and plenty of laughing and backslapping amongst the notables gathered inside Los Angeles’s Microsoft Theater for this convivial affair.
THE 2022 ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: After an opening scroll with the night’s honorees, Robert Downey Jr. appears on stage to introduce Duran Duran, who performed at his 50th birthday bash back in April. Here, Downey looks positively fluorescent in his highlighter-colored suit and matching eyeglass frames.
The Gist: Downey says that it’s a mark of longevity to be “CSF” – cool, sophisticated, and fun – which are qualities Duran Duran have displayed for over 40 years. And then it’s time for the highlight reel, which bounces clips from the band’s era-defining music videos off testimonials from notables like Naomi Campbell and Gwen Stefani. “The songwriting was so well crafted, as pop songs,” Stefani says, “and so addictive, that you just couldn’t get ‘em out of your head.” And to prove that, Duran Duran themselves appear to perform a stirring version of their 1981 single “Girls on Film.”
Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, and Usher discuss the legacy of hit producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Hall of Famer Janet Jackson herself is on hand for their induction. Sheryl Crow inducts Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo; “I had headed to college to study piano and voice,” Crow says of herself in 1980, “but what I really wanted to be was Pat Benatar.” This year’s Ahmet Ertegun Awards for non-performing music professionals are bestowed on Jimmy Iovine, Sylvia Robinson, and Allen Grubman, and there’s a great segment honoring the early influence of folk and blues musician Elizabeth Cotton.
Elsewhere in the show, Judas Priest receive their proper due as icons of heavy metal (and turn in a rousing and leathery performance of “Living After Midnight”), Sara Bareilles inducts Carly Simon into the Hall and sings “Nobody Does it Better” (Olivia Rodrigo takes on “You’re So Vain”), The Edge speaks eloquently about being influenced by inductees The Eurythmics, Hall of Famer Dr. Dre inducts Eminem, who also performs, and Pink is on hand to induct country music legend Dolly Parton.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? If you were blown away by Dolly Parton at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Netflix features A MusicCares Tribute to the singer and songwriter with appearances by Miley Cyrus, Sheryl Crow, and Willie Nelson, amongst many others. And Lifetime’s recent two-part documentary about Janet Jackson’s life and career includes a ton of revealing archival footage delving into her creation of the Rhythm Nation 1814 album alongside producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Our Take: “I don’t wanna hear ‘Rock is dead,’ alright? Because it isn’t.” Whether it’s Alice Cooper during his gracious introduction of hesher kings Judas Priest into the Rock Hall, or Jimmy Jam pointing out the hypocrisy of school music and arts programs being put on the chopping block, there’s a real thread of enlightened defense that runs through the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran comments on it too, saying how great it feels to be in a room surrounded by people who love music. For all of these professionals, you get the sense that for as much of the glad-handing and shouty hagiography stuff that’s part and parcel of awards ceremonies like this, it’s also a real chance for them to offer their full-throated support of what music means in our society, and how important it remains.
And to that end, it’s a nice feature of HBO Max’s edited package of the event that no one’s speeches are cut off. This is their night; let the rockers and singers and producers speak their mind, damn it! John Mellencamp certainly does. During his introduction of entertainment lawyer Allen Grubman’s lifetime achievement honors, Mellencamp describes how important music and artists are to fostering and fighting for unity. “I’m an artist, and a gentile, whose life has been enriched greatly by my friendship and association with countless Jewish people. I cannot tell you how fuckin’ important it is to speak out if you’re an artist, against anti-semitism, against all forms of hatred! Here’s the trick: silence is complicity.”
Sex and Skin: Nothing here.
Parting Shot: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies are famous for their collaborative performances, and this year’s show is no different, with Pink, Brandi Carlile, Simon Le Bon, Zac Brown, Dave Stewart, and Rob Halford among the luminaries appearing alongside Rock Hall inductee Dolly Parton for a celebratory run through her timeless classic “Jolene.”
Sleeper Star: Lenny Kravitz, who hasn’t lost a step when it comes to casually wearing what looks like sequined priest’s vestments, tells a funny anecdote about the time Rock Hall inductee Lionel Richie came by his Miami home for a writing session. “I wanted everything to be perfect. I set up a portable studio in the kitchen, and as soon as he arrived we started jamming. As our ideas were starting to flow, my 93-year-old grandfather Albert Roker walked in and turned on the TV to watch a heavyweight fight he’d been waiting for. Just as we were finding the chorus, grandpa turned around and said, ‘Hey fellas, you mind taking that noise someplace else?’”
Most Pilot-y Line: Jimmy Jam says this of music, and he isn’t wrong. “I call it the divine art. And I say that because if I said to you what were you doing 20 years ago, and you might be able to piece it together in some sort of way. But if I play you a song from 20 years ago, every memory comes back. It’s the key that unlocks everything.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is like a TV Yule Log, only for plenty of music notables appearing onstage and a handful of live performances. Let its three-hour-plus run time engulf you as you fade in and out of a long Thanksgiving holiday nap.
Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges
