Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Welcomes Tom Waits, Neil Diamond, Dr. John

At last night’s Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony in New York City, Rob Zombie inducted Alice Cooper, Paul Simon welcomed Neil Diamond, John Legend inducted Dr. John, Neil Young inducted Tom Waits, Bette Middler brought in Darlene Love, and Elton John inducted Leon Russell.

Waits, always one with a snappy one liner, was in rare form, describing his songs as “just very interesting things to be doing with the air.” “They say that I have no hits and that I’m difficult to work with,” he quipped. “And they say that like it’s a bad thing.” Waits went on to perform “Make It Rain,” “Rain Dogs,” and “House Where Nobody Lives.”

Neil Young, in inducting Waits, said “this next man is indescribable and I’m here to describe him. In the scope of things this man is a great singer, actor, magician, spirit guide, changeling and performer for you.”

Simon said of Neil Diamond: “He was known as the Jewish Elvis Presley. In fact, in many synagogues across the country Elvis was considered a bogus Neil Diamond.”

Diamond went on to sing “Sweet Caroline,” at one point sharing the mic with Bruce Springsteen and Robbie Robertson, and later joined Cooper, Love, John, Russell, Dr. John and Bette Middler in belting The Crystals’ “Da Doo Ron Ron.” Read a full account of the evening here.

You can watch Tom Waits’ performance from the Induction ceremony exclusively on Fuse TV March 20 at 9 pm Eastern.