Tearful Phil Collins receives electrifying ovation at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony amid health battles
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Collins → receive → battles
Published Nov. 15, 2026, 2:22 a.m. ET
Phil Collins gave a tearful acceptance speech and got an electrifying tribute from Cynthia Erivo, Oprah Winfrey inducted the late Luther Vandross, and Wu-Tang Clan made the Peacock Theater a rowdy celebration at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday night.
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Theater → publish → night
Queen Latifah, Oasis, MC Lyte and Sade were also inducted, and Billy Idol, New Order and Iron Maiden were set to enter the hall later in the evening.
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Idol → induct → evening
Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker inducted Collins and praised him for his unprecedented dual stardom as a drummer and a hit-making pop singer in the 1980s.
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Barker → induct → 1980s
“I grew up just wanting to play the drums,” Collins said.
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Collins → grow → drums
I can’t believe, when I look back, how life has gone.”
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life → believe → ?
Barker said Collins’ song “In the Air Tonight” gave the world “arguably the most badass drum fill of all time.”
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song → say → time
Minutes later, Barker played that fill himself as Erivo gave a slowed-down, epic rendition of the song that brought the crowd to its feet.
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that → play → feet
Collins was already in the hall as a member of Genesis, but now gets the solo honor.
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Collins → get → honor
Winfrey, whose presence was unannounced, said with relish that Vandross was “the maestro of the love song” and said he was once correctly named “the top artist that people make looove to.”
Vandross, an R&B singer with a velvet voice, was one of the definitive singers of the 1980s and ’90s.
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Vandross → say → 1980s
He died in 2005.
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He → die → 2005
“Luther Vandross sang with such passion and soul it could reach something deep inside that you didn’t even know needed to be reached,” Winfrey said.
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Winfrey → sing → something
Usher then took the stage and sang a sultry medley of Vandross hits, including “Here and Now” and “So Amazing.”
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Usher → take → Amazing
Hip-hop acts make their presence known
Wu-Tang Clan, the epic hip-hop collective from New York’s Staten Island, filled the stage with its 10 current members, giving a memorable acceptance speech and a performance that had the crowd on its feet and dancing.
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crowd → make → feet
Backed by a big jazz band, the musical medley included “C.R.E.A.M.,” “Method Man” and late member Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.”
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medley → back → C.R.E.A.M.
“Wu-Tang rewrote the rules of hip-hop and did it without a big machine behind them,” said comedian Chris Rock, who inducted them.
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who → rewrite → them
“We took Staten Island to the world,” the group’s leader RZA said.
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leader → take → world
“We had a desire to conquer.”
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We → have → desire
He added, “We wanted to make a mark.
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We → add → mark
We made our mark.”
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We → make → mark
MC Lyte, a trailblazing female rapper starting in the late 1980s, was the first artist inducted, with hip-hop star Remy Ma doing the honors and calling her “one of the first women in hip-hop to make sure there was room for the rest of us.”
MC Lyte said she was a “B-girl from Brooklyn just looking for my chance to inspire and motivate.”
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she → trailblaze → chance
She did not perform at the moment of her induction but may be part of an ensemble later in the evening.
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She → perform → evening
Her contemporary and fellow groundbreaker Latifah was inducted later in the evening by Megan Thee Stallion, who said Latifah “taught us to recognize royalty within ourselves.”
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Latifah → induct → ourselves
Latifah wore a leather crown that matched her leather trenchcoat and tie.
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that → wear → trenchcoat
She said, for a long time, she would not have believed this night was possible.
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night → say → time
“It’s difficult enough being a woman in hip-hop, let alone being a hip-hopper in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” she said.
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she → ’ → Fame
Latifah and MC Lyte then took the stage together to perform a medley of their hits, including Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.” and Lyte’s “Ruffneck,” as members of Wu-Tang and Chuck D of Public Enemy danced and rapped along in the audience.
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members → take → audience
Latifah and Lyte entered the hall as recipients of the Early Influence Award along with posthumous nominees Gram Parsons, Fela Kuti and Celia Cruz.
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Latifah → enter → nominees
U2 opens the show
U2 was the night’s surprise opener, playing their new single “Silencio” while surrounded by dancers in riot squad gear with helmets and shields.
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U2 → open → helmets
They then launched into their 1984 classic “Pride (In the Name of Love).”
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They → launch → Love
Singer Bono alternately raised a peace sign and fist as guitarist the Edge and the rest of the band played the song about Martin Luther King, Jr. on the stage at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
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Edge → raise → Angeles
U2 was inducted into the hall in 2005.
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U2 → induct → 2005
Oasis and the other no-shows
Oasis, the youngest of the inductees, didn’t show up.
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Oasis → show → inductees
Guitarist Noel Gallagher is playing a gig back home in Britain, and his little brother, Liam Gallagher, just didn’t want to come.
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brother → play → Britain
“Anybody surprised they didn’t show up?” asked actor and Oasis superfan Bob Odenkirk, who inducted them.
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who → show → them
”It would’ve been out of character if they had.
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they → have → character
He praised their “bangers that make you sing along even before you finish hearing them for the first time,” before singer-songwriter Stephen Wilson Jr. gave an acoustic rendition of “Wonderwall.”
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Jr. → praise → Wonderwall
Sade also decided to skip the induction.
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Sade → decide → induction
The singer and her band that’s named after her were inducted by singer Andra Day and celebrated by singer Sienna Spiro, who sang the group’s beloved hit “Smooth Operator.”
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who → name → hit
Iron Maiden, to be inducted later Saturday night, was on tour in Australia.
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Maiden → induct → Australia
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
