The event will broadcast on HBO Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 8:00 pm ET/PT (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Inductee Eddie Vedder from the band Pearl Jam performs at the 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Barclays Center on Friday, April 7, 2017, in New York. The event will broadcast on HBO Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 8:00 pm ET/PT (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

2017 Inductee Joan Baez speaks onstage at the 32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center on April 7, 2017 in New York City. he looked me in the eye and said, ‘Stop doing that.’ And I was cured, ladies and genetlmen!”

“I had three shows left to go and Eddie Vedder was on that show, and he sang ‘Better Man,’ I liked to tell myself it was because it rhymed with ‘Letterman.’ At the end if the show Eddie Vedder came up to me and handed me this,” pointing to an acoustic guitar, with his son Harry’s name on it. They took unbelievable risks — like the double album Tales from Topographic Oceans, which had just four songs — each one was one full side. Chris is in heaven, but him and Peter are here with us tonight.”

It was a night of wildly divergent style: Snoop Dogg then took the stage: “I can’t believe it’s been 21 years since we actually got to hear Tupac, not the one clip on YouTube, not the hologram, Tupac Amaru Shakur the human being. Sharks, or octopus or whatever, I’m like, ‘Man!’ It was crazy because not only did we think we’re on top of the world; at that time we actually were on top of the world!”

What followed was one of the best tributes that the Hall of Fame has ever orchestrated: it began with Alicia Keys playing a medley, including “I Get Around,” “I Ain’t Mad At Ya,” “Dear Mama” and “Changes.” Then, Snoop returned to the stage with YG for “2 of Americaz Most Wanted.” Treach from Naughty By Nature did “Hail Mary,” and then T.I. They started with “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart).”

Schon then introduced some former members of the band – drummer Ansley Dunbar and Gregg Rolie, but not Perry — for “Lights.” He dedicated it to Steve Perry. Former Journey frontman Steve Perry reunited on stage with his “Don’t Stop Believin’” bandmates for the first time in 25 years to screams and hugs of joy, while Roy Wood of Electric Light Orchestra turned up for the New York ceremony 45 years after leaving the English band. There were audible boos in the audience tonight, likely coming from fans of another prog-rock band Yes (who share fans with Rush, and were in fact presented by two of Rush’s three members), as well as Journey’s fans. And a four song Pearl Jam set seems way too short, even for a show like this one; Pearl Jam’s fans seemed to comprise over half the crowd (they’ve sold out this very arena multiple times over the years), and they surely wanted more. Until I took her backstage at a Taylor Swift concert where she got a selfie!”

A charismatic and funny speaker, she was also serious: “No one can overlook the role of folk music in rock and roll, and neither can anyone deny my role in it.”

She spoke about non-violence in her personal life and as a way of social change, and of her advocacy for the less fortunate. Disco producer Nile Rodgers, the man behind 1970s hits like

 “Le Freak” and “We Are Family,” was presented with a special award for musical excellence. “They have too much good material, they decide we don’t want to put this song on there, so later it’s released as a b-side. NEW YORK — The Latest on inductions to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (all times local):

Chuck Berry was the first artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he is the first to be at the Hall's 32nd annual ceremony.
Electric Light Orchestra, Joan Baez, Journey, Pearl Jam, Tupac Shakur, and Yes are the six acts inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.