FOREIGNER and Ozzy Osbourne have been inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame – and as usual for that institution, there was no shortage of controversy.
Classic line-up Foreigner drummer Dennis Elliott boycotted the Cleveland ceremony citing issues with the organisers’ demands around performances, primary songwriter and founder Mick Jones was also absent due to reasons unknown and Osbourne thanked the late Randy Rhoads but not other musicians who wrote and recorded during the solo career for which he was being honoured.
And then there was the accompanying performances which divided rock fans, with hip hop and country singer Jellyroll and Billy Idol performing Ozzy songs as the Prince Of Darkness was restricted to a throne and did not sing due to health issues including Parkinson’s.
Classic Foreigner singer Lou Gramm only got to trade a few lines with pop’s Kelly Clarkson during “I Wanna Know What Love Is”, a situation at least one reviewer described as an insult.
At least no-one seemed to find fault with Wolfgang Van Halen’s searing guitar solo on “Crazy Train”, nor Slash’s raw reading of “Hot Blooded”.
The seated Osbourne said: “Let me get the thank yous out of the way, because I’m not going to bore you with a long, drawn out fucking monologue.
“I’d like to thank whoever voted me into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for my solo work…I’ve got to say one thing for a guy by the name of Randy Rhoads. If I’d hadn’t have met Randy Rhoads, I don’t think I’d be sitting here now. And moreso more than that, my wife Sharon. Saved my life. And my grandbabies and my babies. I love them all.”
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