It was well past midnight when U2 finally took its place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The trailblazing Irish rock quartet joined the Pretenders, the O’Jays, Percy Sledge and Buddy Guy in the hall’s 20th class of performers. The four-hour induction ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel began Monday night and ran into the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
Hall of Famer Bruce Springsteen welcomed U2 into the elite club. In a hilarious introduction, he teased the band about everything from its recent iPod commercial to singer Bono’s mullet hairstyle in the 1980s.
During their acceptance speeches, Bono, guitarist the Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. reminisced about their early days together in Dublin.
Bono joked about the Rock Hall gala being “a bit of an Irish wedding,” claiming “Paddy” Sledge and Canton’s O’Jays in the name of Ireland. As for Akron native Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, Bono said: “We’d like her to be Irish.”
U2 put an exclamation point on its induction with one of the most dynamic performances ever witnessed by the hall.
Bono walked through the crowd of record company moguls and superstar musicians as he sang “Until the End of the World.” Spying a bottle of Champagne at one table, he shook it, uncorked it and anointed the stage — baptism by bubbly.
Passionate renditions of “Pride (In the Name of Love)” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” followed. The latter tune found Springsteen trading verses with Bono. “Vertigo” made for a hard-rocking finale.
VH1 broadcasts highlights of the ceremony at 9 p.m. Saturday.
- Plain-Dealer, 2005.
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