New member Janet Jackson has a seemingly simple request for the Rock Hall Of Fame: "Induct more women"
While the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has its extremely fair share of detractors and critiques—frequently pointing out that, as an institution, it’s moribund, overly conservative, and dominated overwhelmingly by the tastes of aging white dudes—it does occasionally spit out a pretty good performance or two. Take, for instance, the Roxy Music reunion that took place at the Hall’s annual induction ceremony in Brooklyn tonight, with the British art rockers (sans Brian Eno) coming together for the first time in nearly a decade to listen to the guys from Duran Duran say nice things about them, and also play, apparently, a mammoth six-song set.
Other highlights of tonight’s ceremony have been of the mostly non-musical, speech-giving variety, truly highlighting the organization’s dedication to people talking about music, instead of playing it. Major moments include David Byrne (figuratively) singing the praises of Radiohead, and Trent Reznor speaking on behalf of The Cure, who are somehow only getting into the Hall in 2019. On the plus side, we did get the awkward spectacle of only two-fifths of Radiohead (Phil Selway and Ed O’Brien) showing up to accept their award, plus a set of songs from Robert Smith and his crew—including “Boys Don’t Cry,” although video of that one doesn’t appear to have surfaced yet online.
Update: Of course, moody British rockers weren’t the only people the Hall inducted this year—although it was pretty close, something highlighted by this year’s sole female inductee, Janet Jackson, who gave a warm, thankful speech to all the people who helped her career, then made a wonderfully blunt request of the Hall itself: “Induct more women.”