The greatest Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performances of all time, ranked
From Prince and Tom Petty to Bruce Springsteen and U2 to Mick Jagger and Tina Turner, here are 30 times the Rock Hall's jam sessions conjured pure magic
Music Features Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Back in the day, the concert and jam session held during the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies were invite-only. Whatever happened on that stage, stayed on the stage, something that only the elite members of the entertainment industry were lucky enough to witness. The advent of cable TV and the internet changed all that, of course, turning the induction ceremony into the reason to pay attention to the proceedings: with all that talent under one roof each year, there was an excellent chance that something interesting would happen.
With the attention directed at the induction ceremony, the proceedings lost some of the shagginess of their early superstar jams, which is both a blessing and a curse. As much fun as it is to witness a surplus of legends on stage during the 1980s and 1990s ceremonies, recent years have benefitted from a clearer sense of focus (not to mention fewer stars onstage). To commemorate the Class of 2022 induction ceremony airing on HBO and HBO Max this weekend, The A.V. Club has selected 30 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performances that conjured a bit of magic or, failing that, a spectacle that was hard to resist.
73 Comments
Had you picked ANYTHING else for #1 we would have had to burn the place down.
Agreed. That performance was absolutely amazing.
I cannot watch it without crying. And I am an old, cynical broadcaster.
Easiest #1 in the history of AV Club rankings.
I watched this again a couple years back and noticed Dhani’s joy because he sensed what was coming. And it was great at the very end he’s looking for Prince and throws up his hands when he realizes Prince played, tossed his guitar, and just walked off.
His joy, Prince’s absolute MASTERY, and the homage from all those icons for one of my favorite people.
I think he just can’t believe what’s happening in general. I mean that’s a lifetime peak moment right there.The best part of Prince’s whole performance is the little side-eye he gives while melting his guitar strings. “You guys getting all this? Good, because with all due respect not one of you fuckers could ever come close to laying down something like this.”
I also noticed how happy he looked when Prince started in! It actually warms my heart to see it every time I watch it.
No one will ever convince me that when Prince threw that guitar in the air right after melting Tom Perry’s face, that it ever came back down.
It it my firm conviction that when Prince strutted off the stage at the end of his solo he reached the (until then theoretical) peak cool. At that moment he was the coolest person who ever existed.
No question.
It’s the centerpiece of the one of the Hall’s exhibits. You go into a small theater, there’s smoke and lights and a killer sound system that plays clips from various performances over the years; usually just a snippet. Then they cut right to when Prince comes out, they play the whole solo through to the end, and the lights come up. And all us old farts walk out muttering “holy shit”, etc.
The performance that justifies the Hall’s existence. 😉
A-bloody-men
I just discovered this performance earlier this year. Went into watching the video completely cold. I was really thinking “why did they even include Prince in this?” as he stayed off to the side and seemed barely engaged. Then he stepped out. I can’t remember the last time I was riveted by an instrumental performance like that. Sometimes it takes a while to recognize a great moment, but this one was instantaneous. And him throwing the guitar and walking off at the end like “yeah, I know” was so great.
I always feel a little bit sorry for Marc Mann (the “other” soloing guitarist”). He did a cracking job on a huge stage and got absolutely blown away.
The moment my firm belief that Prince was overrated came crashing down around me. Unlike of course the guitar, which is presumably still up there somewhere.
It flew straight to heaven and waited for him.
The fact that the Lenny Kravitz tribute to Prince is not included is an all-time travesty.
#2 was when this 90s kid became a St Vincent fan for life.
I’m a 90s kid, and that belonged way further down the list. Giving all the top spots to the classic rock acts would have looked bad, I guess. Nirvana. Talk about overrated.
I’ve been a St. Vincent fan for awhile, but I kinda disagree with that one… It’s not really a song that works for her. It was my moment of thinking: “Yeah, she’s not a grunge singer.” I would have preferred to see it lower on the list.
Cobain never wrote a song that was a match for her guitar prowess, so her best weapon is under-utilized. And she doesn’t have his paint-peeling wail. Yeah they’re just not really a fit.
Much better was Kim Gordon doing “Aneurysm.”
Bruce Springsteen with Tom Morello playing Ghost of Tom Joad with a blistering 2 minute guitar go outro probably should’ve cracked the top 30.
I think William Joel could live to be 2000 years old, with a #1 hit every year, and nothing would ever match the time he got to play piano on “Let It Be” with Paul F’ing McCartney. It’s become cool to hate on them in certain circles, but The Beatles were magic. Nothing like them before or since. Anyone who says they’re not the greatest band of all time is full of shit.
I’m not aware of such circles and have no wish to frequent them.
Yeah I had a major crush on someone for the longest time. Then found out they hate the Beatles (but I could tell they were just trying to be counter culture about it) so that kinda killed that love.
I just saw Joel a couple of months ago and while he now looks like Mike from Breaking Bad / BCS, he still sounds absolutely amazing. I thought for sure his voice would be shot by now, but nope.
ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG WALTUH
That’s existed in limited circles of cool since the 70s. And, you know, it’s fine, they weren’t infallible. But a contrarian point isn’t right just because it’s contrarian. Their hold on the culture has been resilient enough to foster contrarianism because they were really were that good.
Oh, I’m sure there were people in 1964 saying Beatlemania was the worst. And no, they’re most definitely not perfect. Even their best albums have weak spots. But while the weak spots in their early work were usually just misfires, the weak spots in their later work show most when the collaborative process broke down (mostly between Lennon and McCartney). When they were clicking on all four cylinders, they were unstoppable.
Did I miss Tupac’s rock era?
Pretty sure it was before his psychedelic era, when he met the Maharishi and grew that mustache.
Neil Young has always been an unrepentant dork, I love it.
Thank God you didn’t put the awful Metallica-fronted jam of “Train kept a-rollin” on here. From Beck’s guitar sounding really odd, to Page’s guitar strap breaking right before his solo, to James and Lars playing the song like a rigid metal track, just a mess.
There was precedent for The Stooges playing “Burning Up” since their bassist at the time, Mike Watt, covered it on Sonic Youth’s Ciccone Youth ep.
I love Mike Watt.
Mike Watt is the absolute best and one of the most underrated people in all of rock. Minutemen were great, fIREHOSE were underrated, his solo albums are unjustly ignored. I honestly think he should be in the Hall (heck, I think American punk is vastly underrepresented) or, at least, he should get a critical reappraisal
He’s a gem. An unpretentious, unassuming guy who is just very, very good at his job. He also made a big old guest star-centered album that somehow didn’t come off as self-congratulatory or aggressively irrelevant. That’s an accomplishment in itself. I’m still trying to figure out if Kathleen Hanna’s voice mail was real or a bit.
I miss Tom Petty
Yeah, that one is still tough. Fair to say he was the best songwriter we’ve had in terms of both quality and quantity. I still listen to Tom Petty Radio on XM and they play all his old shows where he DJs and just kind of jokes around. It’s kind of weird because I’ve never heard most of the episodes and so with each new one (to me) it’s still like he’s out there in California just doing his thing.
I miss him like he was someone I knew. But I like to think he’s up there in the cool, non-Christian heaven, takin’ ‘er easy for all us sinners.
I don’t think I’ve heard another artist who can put you right in the moment the way he could. Not to mention how his unique blend of inner conflict and optimism perfectly capture the human condition. Songs like Even the Losers and Rebels say more in three verses than most full-length books.
Yeah. Guys like Prince, they’re flashier and perhaps better musicians, but people like Petty will always have a stronger, more durable legacy. Prince was an icon, yeah, but Tom Petty was a legend. Prince was all about Prince; Tom Petty was about the music. Etc. Put another way, Prince is the guy you want to have on a guest for that one song on your album…Tom Petty is the guy you ask to join the band.
I’ve done the same. It’s always fun to be in the car and feel like you’re just hanging out with Tom while he plays you a bunch of random music that somehow happens to be great, and forget for a while that he’s gone.
As long as we remember him, he’s not gone. Still pretty dead, but not gone.
Me too. And George Harrison. Roy Orbison, too. Listening to “End of the Line” is tough when you think about how many of the Wilburys are gone. That’s probably my top pick for a song to play at the end of my funeral service. Maybe it’ll open with ”All Things Must Pass.”Continuing on that Harrisonesque note, I wanted to play “Wah-Wah” in lieu of a eulogy at my mom’s funeral service, but was inexplicably turned down.
If I had a band, that’s one song I’d love to play live.
Heart’s Stairway to Heaven was by far the best. And it isn’t on the list…
Even Zep couldn’t make that slog of a song good.
Derp.
Heart did such a phenomenal job on Stairway that I actually prefer it to Led Zeppelin’s version.
That’s from the Kennedy Center Honors, not the RnRHoF.
thanks for the correction
One unifying theme across this list is that most RRHoF performances sound pretty terrible. I guess it’s a combination of recording quality and the lack of any production effects.
Prince throwing his guitar over his shoulder as he exits is such a magnificent physical full stop/ fuck you to the whole performance it should get him two places in the Hall.
APPARENTLY Prince was pissed about Rolling Stone recently ranking him too low on a ‘Greatest Guitarists’ list, which makes it the ultimate mic drop
I know that “Uptown Girl” is utter shite, but I will not stand for this Billy Joel slander. This cat gave us the best Atillah this side of John Wayn.
What’s funny about Prince’s performance is that I’m 100 percent positive that in the years after it, Petty, Lynn, and Winwood—some of the greatest musicians in history—would regularly be asked “Oh man! What was it like to play with Prince?!”
I also LOVE Dhani Harrison’s absolute joy on his face watching Prince play. He’s like the stand-in on screen for all of us.
THE BLUES GAVE BIRTH TO ROCK’N’ROLL! THE BLUES GAVE BIRTH TO ROCK’N’ROLL! got a little old.Meanwhile, multiple guitarists, only one Geddy Lee – ‘cause that’s all you need.
So many great Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performances. I will say that I might disagree sliiiiightly with the description of the Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer, a band I love passionately since childhood, because it makes no comment about how they all look like they would rather be anywhere else. Their Life During Wartime performance really shows how disjointed they are.. sort of like when Emerson, Lake and Palmer reunited and had 0 chemistry anymore because the animosity affected their synergy
I thought so too. I think it sounded way off and wasn’t thrilling at all.
the Doors asked him to step into Jim Morrisson’s shoes*Morrison’s
Missing when Neil Young and Zep did “When the Levee Breaks” and “Baby Please Don’t Go.” All time guitar heroics.
Lauryn Hill: “Ne Me Quitte Pas/Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair/Ain’t Got No, I Got Life/Feeling Good” (2018).That is all, carry on.
so spectacular
Neither Keith Richards or Carl Perkins did any chicken-pickin in that performance. It’s a technique that utilizes the middle and ring fingers in addition to the pick to (mostly) replicate banjo rolls and such. They both flat picked their solos.
So much Springsteen. I’m sitting here working at 1:00 AM on a Friday night. The fact that I’m listening to Tom Joad and Western Stars makes it seem not that bad.
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Cable television existed before the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Nine Inch Nails was inducted last year, so didn’t get a chance to play on account of COVID.
They did, however, do a show in Cleveland just recently to celebrate, and brought along most of the alumni:
I see the “notifications” button still does not send you to the comment you are being notified after it being…what, 4+ years? I think it was before Deadspin died.What’s even the point?
Game trivia, did you know the powerup music in the classic arcade game, Vanguard is by Freddie Mercury of Queen? It’s Vultan’s theme of the Hawkmen in the 1980 film Flash. Where Queen did the entire sountrack for the film.You learn something new everyday. Even if it is useless information lol!