CLEVELAND — Bon Jovi reunited with former members Richie Sambora and Alec John Such for a powerful performance on Saturday night as the band earned a spot in the prestigious Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Jon Bon Jovi, Sambora and Such were joined by current bandmates David Bryan, Tico Torres and Hugh McDonald at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, where the hall of fame is based. They performed crowd favorites such as “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “It’s My Life.”
Sambora left Bon Jovi in 2013 and Such in 1994. Each of the members spoke onstage, giving thanks and telling old stories about the New Jersey band.
Jon Bon Jovi, who gave a 20-minute speech, said he has been writing his Rock Hall speech for years.
“Some days I write the ‘Thank you’ speech, sometimes I write the ‘(expletive) you’ speech,” he said. “In the end, it’s all about time. It took a lot of people to get us here tonight.”
The four-hour-plus ceremony kicked off with a tribute to Tom Petty, who died in October at age 66. The Killers earned loud applause when they started “American Girl,” then transitioned to “Free Fallin.”
“Pay some rock ‘n’ roll respect … to the eternal Tom Petty,” frontman Brandon Flowers said as photos of Petty were displayed.
The Cars and four first-time nominees — Nina Simone, Dire Straits, The Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe — round out the 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class.
Simone, who died in 2003, received a passionate and show-stopping tribute from performers she inspired, from Lauryn Hill to Mary J. Blige.
The Cars, founded in Boston in 1976 and known for combining New Wave and classic rock sounds, were inducted after being nominated twice before. Ric Ocasek paid tribute to bandmate Benjamin Orr, who died in 2000.
“It’s quite strange to be here without him,” Ocasek said.
An inspiration to musicians from Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash, Tharpe was called “the godmother of rock and roll” by Alabama Shakes lead singer Brittany Howard, who inducted one her biggest influences.
Playing electric guitar and singing gospel songs, Tharpe was a major star in the 1940s.
“Nights in White Satin” singers The Moody Blues were the last act to be inducted Saturday. Ann Wilson of Heart said the English rockers “are and have always been a kick-ass rock band.”
Another English band, Dire Straits, was inducted, but without its leader Mark Knopfler or his brother David Knopfler. In an interview ahead of the event, co-founding member John Illsley said Mark “just didn’t feel like coming.”
