The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2023

Even though the ceremony lasted an astounding four and a half hours and featured a tonne of moving acts and speeches, there had to be some filler.

The diverse careers of Kate Bush, Don Cornelius, Sheryl Crow, DJ Kool Herc, Missy Elliott, Chaka Khan, Al Kooper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine, the Spinners, Bernie Taupin, and Link Wray were honoured when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame admitted its Class of 2023 on Friday. Although the event had a lot of stirring speeches and performances, given its length—four and a half hours—it was inevitable that it would also include some fluff.

The highlights, low points, and puzzles of the long night are listed below

HIGH: Bernie Taupin believes that fighting Jann Wenner on Friday night is OK.

Just a few weeks prior to the 2023 Class of Achievement ceremony, Jann Wenner, co-founder of Rock & Roll Hall, shockingly revealed to the New York Times that he felt none of his previous Black or female interview subjects were "articulate" enough to merit inclusion in his most recent Rolling Stone compilation, The Masters, which only featured white male musicians. He received criticism for his remarks, and as a result, the Hall's board of directors promptly terminated him. The elephant in the Barclays room on Friday was Wenner's firing, not to mention his guardianship of the Hall over his 25 years as its chairman. However, only Taupin, whose wife Heather had described Wenner's remarks as a "slap in the face" to this year's diverse class, acknowledged this inductees who had the audacity to bring up the incident. The renowned lyric writer for Elton John showed off his command of language during his acceptance speech for the Musical Excellence Award. He quipped, "I'm honoured to be in the Class of 2023 alongside a group of such profoundly articulate women and outstanding articulate Black artists, along with all of the other music masters here tonight." Well done.

LOW: George Michael's followers don't think highly of Adam Levine

The most poignant part of the evening was expected to be the posthumous and long-overdue induction of Michael, the winner of this year's fan vote. Andrew Ridgeley, Michael's former Wham! bandmate, gave an impassioned speech during the ceremony, referring to Michael as "the dearest friend I ever had." Then, though, Michael's all-star musical homage was about to begin. A real homosexual male music star, such as Sam Smith or Adam Lambert, for whom Michael paved the path would have made sense for this segment, as would have Elton John, Michael's former "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" duet partner, who was present to induct Taupin and ultimately gave two performances on Friday. Rather than Lambert, the Hall inexplicably included Miguel, Carrie Underwood, and Adam Levine. (And not one of them included "Freedom '90"!)

Underwood, who referred to Michael as one of her "all-time heroes and vocal inspirations," sang the ballad "One More Try" beautifully, while Miguel sang admirably on "Careless Whisper," which featured E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons as an accompaniment. However, Levine's oddly trenchcoated "Faith" was so flimsy that Limp Bizkit could have been a better choice. Michael's admirers were eager to voice their displeasure at this mishandled booking.

Bernie Taupin hues in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2023: highs and lows Jann Wenner, hues of social media Adam Levine's homage to George Michael Missy Elliott creates a narrative for Hall and more.