Eminem enters Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by thanking more than 100 musical artists during induction speech
Eminem gave a nod of respect to a long list of hip hop idols, both known and obscure, during his induction speech into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday.
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In all, the rap legend took about three-and-a-half minutes to mention more than 100 names after accepting the honor at the 37th annual ceremony held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
The Detroit rapper also performed during the five-plus hour show with the help of special guests Ed Sheeran and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, with a set list that included the likes of My Name Is, Rap God, and Sing For The Moment, Stan, Forever and Not Afraid.
Eminem was inducted into the hall of fame by his mentor, Dr. Dre.
The legendary hip hop producer and NWA rapper took eight minutes rolling off his his protege’s many accolades, and sharing some of their history together, according to The Detroit News.
After revealing that he didn’t even realize Eminem was White when he first heard him rap, Dre revealed that he encountered resistance when he first posed the idea of signing him to his record label.
‘While everyone else around me had their doubts, I knew that his gift was undeniable,’ Dre said, adding, ‘His raw, dark and humorous lyrics coupled with an impeccable cadence stood out from anything I had ever heard before, and he was hungry. Both of us were.’
Dre continued, ‘My rebuttal to those naysayers went something like this: “He’s going to be the biggest selling artist on our label.” Little did I know, he was going to be one of the best-selling music artists of all time.’
From there he shared his long list of accomplishments over his career that spans 11 solo studio albums since 1996, which includes: ‘220 million albums sold, 13 No. 1 albums, Grammy Awards, an Emmy, an Oscar, the titles of best-selling music artist of the 2000s and best-selling hip-hop artist ever.’
Decked out in an all-black leather jacket and hood, Eminem was joined on stage by his early collaborator Denaun Porter, while his 10-minute, six-song medley covered various sides of his creativity.
When it came time to his induction speech, the father of three was obviously honored to in the company of such other great artists past and present.
“This sh**’s crazy. So I wrote some sh** down tonight that I’m never going to f***ing remember, so I had to read it off the paper and sh**, but it’s from the heart,’ he started off his speech. ‘I realize what an honor it is right now for me to be up here tonight, and what a privilege it is to do the music that I love, and the music that basically saved my life.’
