Joan Jett Moved to tears (Video)

Rock hall induction ceremony filled with laughs, tears & lots of music.

Joan Jett couldn’t keep her rough rocker edge for long.

Once she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Wynnewood native was overcome by the moment and moved to tears.

“I tried not to cry and be tough,” she said, her black mascara starting to run.

Jett and other music giants were welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night, an evening made special with two of the Beatles set to come together and play.

Ringo Starr, previously enshrined with the Beatles in 1988, was inducted along with Jett and the Blackhearts, pop punks Green Day, soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers, underground-rock great Lou Reed, blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and the “5” Royales.

Jett fired up the crowd by saying, “Here we go, Cleveland,” and was joined by Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl for “Cherry Bomb,” one of her hits with the Runaways, a band that broke down barriers for women in rock.

Miley Cyrus inducted Jett, considered by some the “Godmother of Punk.”

Jett’s songs empowered girls – and boys – and her sneering onstage presence made her not only look cool but made her a role model for female rockers.

“I come from a place where rock and roll means something,” she said. “It’s more than music, more than fashion, more than a pose. It’s a subculture of rebellion, frustration, alienation and the groove.”

Starr, 74, was the steady beat behind the world’s most celebrated group, and he was the last of the Beatles to have his work outside the band recognized. Starr was inducted by Paul McCartney, whose influence helped get his former bandmate enshrined. Starr put out a string of pop hits, including “It Don’t Come Easy,” “Photograph,” and “You’re Sixteen.”

He may not have had the musical chops or artistry of McCartney, John Lennon, or George Harrison, but Starr managed to stay in the limelight and still tours with his All-Star Band.

Brash and belligerent, Green Day blasted onto the music scene just as Seattle’s grunge sound was growing stale. Lead singer/guitarist Billy Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool borrowed riffs from punk pioneers like the Stooges and Sex Pistols, flavored them with some power chords and pop hooks, and helped redefine a genre.

Withers, 76, was inexplicably left off the hall’s ballot for years, perhaps an unfortunate oversight. But Withers, who walked away from the music industry in the 1980s, is now part of musical royalty, with a catalog of timeless songs like “Lean on Me” and “Ain’t No Sunshine.”

Reed was daring and provocative as a songwriter and lyricist, pushing boundaries with ballads about forbidden subjects like drugs, prostitution, and suicide.

Vaughan died at the height of his career. With his signature Stratocaster, the Texas bluesman was a dynamo on six strings. Best known for songs like “Pride and Joy” and “Look at Little Sister,” he won a Grammy for his mesmerizing cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing.”

HBO will telecast the event on May 30.

Agencies/Canadajournal