The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has welcomed a new class. This year’s inductees were Mary J. Blige, Peter Frampton, A Tribe Called Quest, Foreigner, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Matthews Band and posthumous recognition for Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Alexis Korner, John Mayall, Norman Whitfield and Big Mama Thornton. Saturday’s induction ceremony was held at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland and a TV special with performance highlights will air on ABC on Jan. 1.
Kool & the Gang were inducted by Chuck D, who described the occasion as “a long-due celebration.” Assisted by The Roots, Robert “Kool” Bell and James “JT” Taylor performed a medley of the group’s hits including “Hollywood Swinging,” “Get Down On It,” “Ladies Night,” “Jungle Boogie,” and the 1980 chart-topping “Celebration.”
Blige was inducted by Dr. Dre, who worked with the hip-hop soul legend on her acclaimed song “Family Affair,” off her triple-platinum 2001 album No More Drama. “When you listen to Mary, you understand you’re not alone in heartbreak,” Dre said of the nine-time Grammy winner. Blige wore an excellent shiny black hat as she sang a mix of hits including “Love No Limit,” “Be Happy” and “Family Affair.” “The queen of hip-hop soul is a rock star,” Blige said in her speech.
Peter Frampton was inducted by The Who’s Roger Daltrey, who remarked, “It’s about bloody time! Peter has had the most amazing career of all time. It’s probably easier to name the people he hasn’t worked with than the people he has.” Though he also performed in the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie, Framptoon was inducted on the success of his solo career. His chart-topping 1976 live double album Frampton Comes Alive! featured the hit singles “Show Me the Way” and ″Baby, I Love Your Way.” Frampton was joined by Keith Urban for a performance of “Do You Feel Like I Do.”
Norman Whitfield was a Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and arranger who helped establish the Motown Sound. Among his hits were “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” Whitfield frequently worked with The Temptations, writing hits like “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (alongside Eddie Holland) and produced many of their albums including Cloud Nine, whose title track earned the group a Grammy in 1969. In the mid-1970s, Whitfield left Motown and formed his own label, Whitfield Records, where he wrote the Grammy-winning score for the 1976 film Car Wash. In 2004, Mr. Whitfield was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.