Rock Hall inductees honor first inductee: Chuck Berry

Pearl Jam, N EW YORK — Tupac Shakur, Joan Baez, Electric Light Orchestra, Journey and Yes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Friday night in a ceremony that began with a tribute to the first inductee: the late Chuck Berry.

Electric Light Orchestra honored Berry, who died last month, with an electrifying performance of “Roll Over Beethoven” at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Friday. Berry himself performed his iconic song when he was inducted in 1986.

Before that, a video featured past interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards and others discussing Berry’s sound and style. Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, whose speech opened the show, said of Berry, “no one would be in this room if it wasn’t for this man.”

Wenner also named each of the inductees and discussed their success, and the audi- ence erupted loudly after he called out Pearl Jam. Most of the crowd stood on its feet and applauded for minutes as the camera panned to Eddie Vedder, the band’s frontman.

After Nirvana just three years ago, Pearl Jam is the second band with roots in Seattle’s grunge rock scene to make it into the Rock Hall. The band exploded in popularity from the start in the early 1990s behind songs like “Alive,” “Jeremy” and “Even Flow.”

Nile Rodgers received special honor.

Presenters inducting the 2017 class included David Letterman, Snoop Dogg, Phar- rell Williams, Dhani Harrison, Pat Monahan, Jackson Browne and Alex Lifeson of Rush.

Shakur, the prolific rapper, was shot and killed at his peak in 1996. “Keep Ya Head Up,” “Life Goes On,” “Ambitionz Az a Ridah” and “Changes” are among his best-known songs.

Shakur, Baez, Pearl Jam and ELO were all elected in their first year as nominees.

To be eligible, all of the nominees had to have released their first recording no later than 1991. Inductees will eventually be enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland. a