Artists Who Shaded the Rock Hall During Induction Ceremony

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2024 was inducted into the organization this past Saturday (Oct. 19), and some artists threw shade at the hall during the ceremony.

This year’s inductees included Mary J. Blige, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & the Gang, Ozzy Osbourne and A Tribe Called Quest in the performer category. Jimmy Buffet, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield received the Musical Excellence Award, and Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton were granted the Musical Influence Award.

The Rock Hall is just about as controversial a topic within the rock and metal community as the Grammy Awards are, with many fans becoming frustrated year after year when their favorite artists are snubbed from the honor.

This year, it seems some of the artists themselves were even a bit irritated by the Hall, as a couple of them made some snarky comments during their speeches. Keep scrolling to see what was said.

Sammy Hagar

Sammy Hagar inducted Foreigner into the Rock Hall, and also performed a bit during the evening. While presenting Foreigner with the honor, he made a couple of remarks that seemingly insinuated he felt the band should have been inducted a long time ago.

“So we all have asked ourselves, all us musicians out there… What’s the criteria? How do you get into the Hall of Fame?” the singer questioned [via Van Halen News Desk]. “One big hit song, right? Well Foreigner has had nine mega hits in the Top 100 in Billboard. Not one — nine, okay? Boom. Qualified.”

“Number two, you should have a gold record, a platinum record,” he continued. “Well here comes Foreigner with 80 million records sold, six Top 10 albums, including Foreigner 4… which spent 10 weeks at No. 1, okay? Qualified, right?”

The singer then performed the track “Hot Blooded” with Slash, Demi Lovato, Chad Smith and some of Foreigner’s touring band.

Cher

Cher’s debut album All I Really Want to Do came out in 1965, meaning the singer has been eligible for induction into the Rock Hall since 1990. Thus, she made sure to acknowledged how long it took for her career to be recognized by the hall during her induction speech.

READ MORE: Ozzy Osbourne Celebrated With All-Star Performance at Rock Hall

“It was easier getting divorced from two men than it was to get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” she said [via Ultimate Classic Rock]. “I want to thank my guardian David Geffen, because yeah, he wrote a letter and sent it to the directors and so… ha ha here I am. So anyway thank you David, thank you for caring so much about me.”

Earlier that night, Cher performed her hit song “Believe” with pop star Dua Lipa.

Dionne Warwick

Similar to Cher, Dionne Warwick has also been eligible to be inducted into the Hall for over three decades. Her debut record, Presenting Dionne Warwick, was released in 1963, making her qualified for induction since ’88. During her speech for the Musical Excellence Award, she shared that she had been nominated three times.

“In any ballgame, three strikes and you’re considered to be out. Well, this is the third time that I’ve been told I’ve been nominated for this particular award and they finally got it right,” she said, according to Vulture. “I got to the point where I said, ‘You know, y’all can keep this award.’ But I’m so pleased to be here.”

Warwick sang her 1979 hit “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” with Jennifer Hudson during the evening.