The Eurythmics were among the latest group of music legends to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Scottish singer-songwriter Annie Lennox joined Dave Stewart on the stage at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
Lennox was tearful as she labelled their musical success a "great adventure" after Stewart called her "one of the greatest performers, singers and songwriters of all time”.
“Thank you, Dave, for this great adventure,” she said.
Duran Duran was the first act to be inducted, followed by Lionel Richie who opened with his hit ballad Hello.
“His songs are the soundtrack of my life, your life, everyone’s life,” Lenny Kravitz said in inducting Richie.
“To name all of his brilliant songs would take, well, all night long,” he added, invoking the name of the hit Richie would light up the room with a few minutes later in a singalong set that brought the night’s most enthusiastic reaction.
After performing Hello, Richie breezed into his 1977 hit with the Commodores, Easy.
In his acceptance speech, Richie lashed out at those during his career who accused him of straying too far from his black roots.
READ MORE: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame remembers its last inaugural inductee Jerry Lee Lewis
“Rock ‘n’ roll is not a colour,” he said.
“It is a feeling. It is a vibe. And if we let that vibe come through, this room will grow and grow and grow.”
Eurythmics took the stage next with a soulful, danceable rendition of 1986’s Missionary Man.
“Well I was born an original sinner, I was born from original sin,” singer Annie Lennox belted out, bringing the audience clapping and to its feet four hours into the show.
It was followed by a rousing rendition of their best-known hit Sweet Dreams.
Eminem also received the honour and was the only hip-hop artist among the inductees, the only one whose heyday came after the 1980s, and he brought an edge to the evening that was otherwise missing outside of the heavy metal stylings of Judas Priest.
After opening briefly with 1999’s My Name Is, he brought on Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler to sing the chorus of Dream On for 2003’s Sing For The Moment, which samples the Aerosmith classic.
Then he brought on Ed Sheeran to sing his part on the 2017 Eminem jam River as rain fell on the stage.
“I’m probably not supposed to actually be here tonight for a couple of reasons,” Eminem, wearing a black hoodie, said as he accepted the honour.
“One, I know, is that I’m a rapper and this is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”
He is only the 10th hip-hop artist among well over 300 members of the Hall of Fame.
The inductees were joined by Carly Simon, Harry Belafonte, Judas Priest and Dolly Parton, who gave the honour an enthusiastic embrace after temporarily turning it down.
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