The 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions happened on Friday night (April 7th) at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. Defying the odds, although he did not perform, Journey frontman Steve Perry was on hand to stand along his former bandmates and lovingly salute them and what they accomplished during their years together. Following that, he graciously met the band's current lead singer Arnel Pineda backstage. Among other highlights were Rush's Geddy Lee sitting in with Yes during "Roundabout," and Lenny Kravitz performing a tribute to Prince with a one-two punch of "When Doves Cry" and the Sign O' The Times classic, "The Cross." Jeff Lynne's ELO opened the show with a tribute to the late-Chuck Berry with the group's classic remake of "Roll Over Beethoven."
Inducting the new members were George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison for the Electric Light Orchestra; Pat Monahan of Train for Journey; Snoop Dog for Tupac Shakur, and Pharrell who presented Chic's Nile Rodgers with the Award for Musical Excellence. David Letterman inducted Pearl Jam, with Jackson Browne doing the honors for Joan Baez, and Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson saluting Yes. A truncated version of the evening's events will air on HBO on April 29th.