The live Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2020 Induction proceedings were originally rescheduled due to the pandemic, but this Saturday, November 7th, a pre-recorded special aired on HBO. The ceremony was two hours and honoured the inductees like Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, and more. The special featured guests including Dave Grohl, Billy Idol, Chris Martin, Gwen Stefani, Charlize Theron, and many others.

“Dave Grohl kicks off the show with a heartfelt introduction to this year’s class of inductees, and the special guests will speak further on how the 2020 Inductees impacted their personal and professional careers.”

Chris Martin of Coldplay as well as Arcade Fire’s Win Butler shared their thoughts on Depeche Mode.

“I feel like their music still sounds like it could come out 20 years from now. Depeche were able to take that spirit and spread it, which is really kind of a sacred responsibility.” – Win Butler

“I think some bands exist on the universal level solely to bring people together to make people that might feel more outsider-y realize they’re part of a bigger family. Depeche Mode can make lost souls feel more found.” -Chris Martin

Although not all of the footage from the ceremony has been released, you can hear some of Dave Grohl’s speech and watch the trailer below.

As mentioned, Nine Inch Nails was one of the six inductees this year, after being nominated many times in the past. Iggy Pop inducted the band highlighting their “sound of industrial and digital ambition”.

“I went to the Nine Inch Nails show at the Forum in Los Angeles, the one together with David Bowie, and Trent held the center of that room just by being a kind of dark spot, hunched behind the mic. I’ve seen the same thing accomplished in different ways by T. Rex at Wembley, Nirvana at the Pyramid Club, and Bob Dylan in ’65. This is the mark of the master artist, simply to connect.”

Trent Reznor gave a heartfelt acceptance speech saying “this journey’s far from over “. You can watch the full speech below

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has also created a Class of 2020 New Inductee Exhibit which you can view virtually here. 

Filed under: Nine Inch Nails, Rock And Roll Hall of Fame