Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Tom Waits, Alice Cooper and a Woozy Neil Diamond

By Sarah Crow Posted Mar 15th 2011 10:00AM

Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper and Tom Waits will forever be remembered in the hearts of fans for their undeniable contributions to music, and as of last night, generations to come can appreciate their talents as the latest inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The trio of music legends were inducted alongside Dr. John, girl-group star Darlene Love and singer-songwriter Leon Russell at New York's Waldorf-Astoria on Monday night.

While the choice of inductees came as no shock, the unlikely behavior of one of the nominees was quite a surprise for the audience.

So who got weird at the awards?

While most would have expected any mayhem to come from rock and roll badboys Cooper or Waits, it was Brooklyn's own mild-mannered Diamond who stole the show with his onstage antics.

The jet-lagged singer told the audience, "Here I am. I'm sorry I didn't write a speech. I just got off tour from Australia, I did a show two days ago, I got on a plane, commercial, yesterday. I've been flying my a** off for 45 hours, got in this morning. I have no idea where we are... What are we doing here? What the heck is going on right here?"

Diamond, who spent much of the evening snapping pictures of the crowd, ended his acceptance on a confused note, asking, "What time is it? What day is it? And what the f**k is this country?!" before returning to the stage later in the show to perform his hit 'Sweet Caroline.'

Not to be outdone, Cooper invited a children's choir from Ronald McDonald House, a non-profit specializing in care for sick children and their families, onstage to perform with him, all of whom sported Cooper's signature black eye makeup.

Tags: rock and roll hall of fame

Comments

(16)

Tuesday 15 March

By Rockstar

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

Time to put the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to bed.
Its totally lost any meaning. IRRELEVENT

By joe paloka

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all these hall of fames are useless anymore, inducting any one
thats cut a cd. rap artist are now being inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame, face it, rap isnt even music,
it bull chit lyrics with no music value what so ever..

halls of fame, more like hall of shame.

By D

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

And again, Rush is not inducted.......SHAMEFUL

By dvdfrnzwbr

Rush has always done what they wanted in the interest of their music and not to the interest of record executives. Be happy they are not inducted into the Sell Out Hall of Fame.

By Jay

What about the shameful ignoring of the Doobie Brothers!!

By Sharon

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I am still upset that Bon Jovi was not inducted this year.

By Rod G.

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How in the world did it take until 2011 for Neil Diamond to be elected into the Hall? Even if a person isn't a fan of Diamond as a performer, his ability to write songs, and hit songs at that, should have allowed him entrance years ago. The others just show how watered down H.O.F.'s are, and not just musical ones either.

By Kariann

It saddens me that Neil's acceptance speech was so confusing. Maybe if the RRHOF had inducted him 15 years ago, he would have been more alert? Why did it take so long?

By JOHN

Tom Who?

By WOODY

DR. JOHN? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. AND ONCE AGAIN, AMERICA'S GREATEST ROCK BAND OF ALL TIME, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, IS SHUNNED! THIS IS NOT THE HALL OF FAME, IT'S THE HALL OF SHAME. TOM WAITS, WHAT A JOKE! I WOULDN'T CALL NEIL DIAMOND A SINGER OF ROCK AND ROLL HITS EITHER. IT'S TIME THAT A REAL ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME BE ESTABLISHED ELSEWHERE AND THE INDUCTEES SHOULD BE THE ONES THAT DESERVE IT. HOW ABOUT GETTING A BAND IN THERE THAT STILL HAS ALL OF IT'S MEMBERS ALIVE AND COULD PLAY THEIR OWN SONG, LIKE GRAND FUNK RAILROAD. PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS SHOULD BE IN THERE TOO! BOYCOTT THIS HALL OF SHAME, CUZ IT AIN'T REALLY THE TRUE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME! SHAME SHAME ON YOU AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By danny

The greatest Duo in rock history hasnt been inducted either. Hall and Oates have been eligible for over a decade!!!! ELO as well!!!!!!

By joe american

alice cooper. thats a joke, cooper isnt a singer,
hes a shock joke stage performer, nothing great about
this freak....if your gonna induct him you might as well
induct pia zador whos latest album is, I Am What .

tom waits.... who the hell is tom waits...
oh yea, ohhh no.. this is a joke, right
like man, tom waits has got to be the worst
singer in the world... if you never hear this
raspy old coot sing, dont brother... hes
awful....
damn has the hall of fame gone nuts...

By diamondo

Neil Diamond was a good songwriter and singer in his day. My parents (and myself) enjoyed his music. But his current stuff is not good, and the way he conducted himself during this speech (drunk, tired...whatever) is not acceptable. No need for him to use the 'f' word.

By ELLIE

CONGRATULATIONS TO NEIL DIAMOND, MY FAVORITE SINGER. YOU DESERVE THE BEST.

Wednesday 07 December

By Mike Saffels

What more does Def Leppard have to prove to show these people they are MORE than worthy to be inducted.?? C'mon people..get real. They induct "rap" artists and leave out Leppard.?? Rap is not even music.!!!!!

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