Ringo Starr inducted T. Rex into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tonight during a virtual event televised on HBO.
“People knew him as a great musician, a songwriter, a guitarist. But he was also a poet, and he was very proud of that,” Starr said of bandleader Marc Bolan, who died in 1977 at the age of 29. “He was always telling me that he was the No. 1-selling poet in Britain. In fact, his poetry was as important to him as his music.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s virtual induction ceremony which aired November 7th on HBO and they’ve just rolled out a long list of artists that will play a part. It includes Luke Bryan, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Miley Cyrus, Billy Gibbons, Dave Grohl, Don Henley, Jennifer Hudson, Billy Idol, Iggy Pop, Alicia Keys, Adam Levine, Chris Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brad Paisley, Bruce Springsteen, 
, Ringo Starr, Gwen Stefani, Charlize Theron and Nancy Wilson.
As seen Saturday night on HBO, “The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2020 Inductions” was all-doc and no rock. At least, there was no fresh performance footage. If you watched the show unaware of this, you might have been in suspense at first
The ceremony was originally booked for May, 2nd at Cleveland’s Public Hall and was first postponed to November because of the pandemic. In July, the Rock Hall surrendered to the inevitable and decided to make it a virtual eve.
Each of the eight segments — nine, including an In Memoriam interlude — was exceptionally well put together, which maybe is not surprising when you’ve got filmmakers as renowned as Morgan Neville, Mark Pellington and Thom Zimny producing or co-producing the short films, in the cases of Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and Bruce Springsteen manager Jon Landau
“To protect the health and safety of our Inductees, their families, crews and our attendees, we’ve made the decision that the scheduled live event is not possible,” John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, says in a statement. “Together with HBO and executive producer Joel Gallen, we will still create an exciting program honoring our 2020 inductees, by telling the stories of their incredible contributions to music and impact on a generation of artists that followed them.”
On Tuesday (Oct. 15) morning, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced the nominees for the Rock Hall Class of 2020 -- and of the 16 artists shortlisted, nine are first-time nominees.
Watch last year cerimony below
Pat Benatar, "Love Is a Battlefield' and "We Belong," No. 5 in 1983 and 1985, respectively.
Dave Matthews Band, "American Baby," No. 16 in 2005.
Depeche Mode, "Enjoy the Silence, " No. 8 in 1990.
The Doobie Brothers, "Black Water" and "What a Fool Believes," No. 1 in 1985 and 1989, respectively.
Whitney Houston, 11 No. 1 hits, including "I Will Always Love You," No. 1 in 1992.
Judas Priest, "You've Got Another Thing Comin'," No. 67 in 1982.
Kraftwerk, "Autobahn," No. 25 in 1975.
MC5, "Kick Out the Jams," No. 82 in 1969.
Motorhead, no Hot 100 hits.
Nine Inch Nails, "The Day the World Went Away," No. 17 in 1999.
The Notorious B.I.G., "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems" (featuring Puff Daddy & Ma$e), No. 1, both in 1997.
Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, "Tell Me Something Good," No. 3 in 1974. Chaka Khan also reached No. 3 as a solo artist with "I Feel for You" in 1984.
Todd Rundgren, "Hello It's Me," No. 5 in 1973.
Soundgarden, "Black Hole Sun," No. 24 in 1994.
T. Rex, "Bang a Gong (Get It On)," No. 10 in 1972.
Thin Lizzy, "The Boys Are Back in Town," No. 12 in 1976.
Roxy Music disbanded in 1983 --with Eno departing the band a decade earlier due to differences with Ferry-- but has reunited (sans Eno) a number of times over the years, most recently in 2011 to celebrate the group's 40th anniversary.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony will air on HBO April 27
Following Roxy Music‘s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Bryan Ferry will embark on a North American solo trek focusing on the band’s 1982 album Avalon as well the singer’s own solo work and Roxy Music hits.
