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Sorry, kids... I couldn't resist!
Prince Reigns at Hall of Fame Induction
NEW YORK -- Mick Jagger strutted like a rooster at his table just like he does on stage. Yoko Ono, in a silver-lamé jacket and oversized sunglasses, bounced like she was on the disco dance floor. John Mellencamp stood there smoking a cigarette, his eyes fixed on the stage, while Kid Rock had a beer in one hand and a blonde on the other.
All were transfixed by Prince onstage in full falsetto doing "Kiss," to open the 19th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies Monday night at the Waldorf Astoria hotel. He was the first to perform and the first to be inducted -- the only one of this year's seven honorees who made it in his first year of eligibility.
Since all 1,000 music bizzers in the black-tie crowd were on their feet, the standing ovation at the end of his three-song, 10-minute performance was inevitable. But the excitement was undeniable as the dazzling, dynamic Minnesotan in a riveting strange white suit ? with one long tail and, yes, one short one ? tore it up on three of his biggest hits: "Let's Go Crazy," a heavily orchestrated, jazzy "Sign 'o' the Times" and "Kiss" (which kicked off with the instrumental refrain from "Soul Man").
Then came the official induction speeches -- first from OutKast, recent winners of the Grammy's album of the year, and then Alicia Keys, Grammy's best new artist of 2001, sandwiched around a brief video tribute to Prince, featuring TV sound bites.
The bites were from various interviews ("I'll always live in Minneapolis; I find the people here very loving").
OutKast's Andre 3000 and Big Boi each spoke off the cuff about how Prince's music had excited them when they were kids and how he inspires them now that they are best-selling stars. Keys read a high-falutin' speech from a TelePrompter about all the kings in history -- Henry the 8th, King Solomon, King Tut, the Three Kings -- but there is only one Prince." She talked eloquently about he defied all restrictions and rules and made music that was "so superbad that he makes us feel supergood."
"He's an inspiration that generations will return to until the end of time," concluded Keys, 25, who was Prince's choice to induct him.
Then Prince pranced to the podium. After handshakes and hugs, he put his trophy on the floor and opened a red book.
"Thank you Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this is definitely an honor. When I first started out in this music industry, I was most concerned with freedom. Freedom to produce, freedom to play all the instruments on my record, freedom to say anything I wanted to. And after much negotiations, Warner Bros. Records granted me that freedom and I thank them for that."
In his two-minute speech, he gave props to artists who inspired him on "a journey more fascinating than I could ever have imagined" and then offered a little advice.
"A word to the wise: Without real spiritual mentoring, too much freedom can lead to the soul's decay. A word to the young artists: a real friend and mentor is not on your payroll." The crowd applauded. "A real friend and mentor cares for your soul as much as they do their own. I wish all of you the best on this fascinating journey. It ain't over. Peace."
All other inductees had only one speaker -- except the late Beatle George Harrison, who was inducted as a solo artist by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, his partners in the Traveling Wilburys.
After he was inducted, Prince sat at a table in the audience with his wife, Mani (whose black outfit with white trim matched his white suit with black shirt). Also at the table were, among others, Anita Baker and Larry Graham of Sly &the Family Stone. At one point, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones went over and talked to Prince.
During Los Angeles folk-rocker Jackson Browne's overlong acceptance speech, Prince doodled with pen and paper. And soon thereafter, as Browne rocked out to "Running on Empty," the Purple One nodded his head to the beat, then played one-finger drums on his table to the tune and eventually stood and clapped for the guitar solo.
He left shortly after Browne's two-song performance, which was halfway through the four-hour-plus program. ... only to change into a black suit with red hat and shirt for a guitar solo tribute to George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at night's end. Other inductees were Traffic, the '70s progressive-rock group; the R &B vocal group the Dells, who have been together for more than 50 years; heartland rocker Bob Seger; cartoonish blues-rockers ZZ Top, and, in the nonperformer category, Rolling Stone magazine founder/publisher/editor Jann Wenner. A musician is eligible 25 years after the release of his first album. About 1,000 industry workers and inductees vote for the Hall of Fame.
The induction dinner has traditionally been held in New York, even though the actual Hall of Fame opened in Cleveland in 1995.
Among the celebs at Monday's $1,500-a-plate affair were novelist Tom Wolfe, various members of TV's "Sopranos," rocker Lenny Kravitz and Hall of Famers Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Robbie Robertson of the Band, George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic and Bruce Springsteen, who inducted Browne.
While the Hall of Fame was one of Prince's most prestigious moments in his career, it also is another in a series of high-profile moves for him this year.
He opened the Grammy Awards in February, has since appeared on various TV talk shows, and starts his Musicology Tour -- his first major trek in six years -- on March 29 in Los Angeles (with a June 16 concert in St. Paul).
Prince was scheduled to perform a late-night concert Monday in a New York nightclub. He also has tentatively set up an interview with the Los Angeles Times this week. Indeed, it ain't over. It sounds as if he is starting a new chapter.
An edited version of Monday's ceremonies will be broadcast at 7 p.m. Sunday on VH1.
Jon Bream is at popmusic@startribune.com or 612-673-1719.
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