Iggy Pop, Madonna, and Justin Timberlake. Iggy Pop’s bandmate is quoted below
Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a ceremony at Manhattan’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel last night. Justin Timberlake introduced her, and Iggy and the Stooges covered two of her hits, “Burning Up,” And “Ray of Light.”

Madonna personally asked Iggy Pop to perform her songs at the ceremony as a protest against the fact that his seminal group has never been asked to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame despite being nominated several times. Stooge’s guitarist Ron Asheton gave an interview ahead of the performance and said that his group was the anti-Madonna and that he didn’t even know any of her songs . He also said she’s “using us for business purposes”

“The Stooges represent everything that’s against what she is,” Asheton told the Free Press from his New York hotel this afternoon. “I don’t wish her ill. I don’t hate her or anything. But I’d never even heard of these songs until I had to listen to a tape and figure out what’s going on with them.”

In reality, Asheton says, Madonna asked the Stooges to perform as an act of protest: The group, widely considered a linchpin of early punk, has yet to be inducted by the rock hall, despite six appearances on the nomination ballot. By inviting the group on stage, she sends a message, says Asheton.

Last year’s rock hall ceremony featured a similar demonstration, when the night’s inductees performed the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” during a jam session finale.

“Basically she was upset that we’ve been nominated so many times and never made it, so she asked us to play in protest. And it was under those auspices that I thought we were doing it,” Asheton said. “At first I went, ‘Whaaat?’ Then Iggy said, ‘Why don’t you think about it?’”

It came together quickly: Madonna reached out to Iggy Pop just two weeks ago, Asheton says. The band, which had not performed together since closing out its latest tour in December, worked on the songs long-distance, with the Ashetons in Ann Arbor and Iggy home in Florida.

“Iggy said, ‘We’re gonna rock them up — just play ‘em like Stooges songs,’” Asheton recounted. “They actually sound pretty cool. We just rock ‘em out. You wouldn’t even recognize them as Madonna songs. I never thought I’d say this, but I’ve actually enjoyed playing them…”

“I thought that right off the top — that, gee, I just heard she’s got a record coming out, and she’s trying to get a little Stooge shine. She’s a savvy businesswoman,” he said. “I think she actually does like the band. She wouldn’t have asked for us if she didn’t. But she’s also using us for business purposes.”

[From Detroit Free Press]

Madonna was said to look uncomfortable at first when Iggy and the Stooges were performing “Ray of Light,” Iggy jumping around without a shirt as usual, but was said to be laughing afterwards.

In Timberlake’s introduction, he talked about how Madonna gave him a B12 shot in the butt while he was working with her, and made a couple of Britney references:

“Madonna has changed the way our world sounded, she’s changed the way our world looked, and somehow she’s still found time to publicly kiss at least someone I may or may not have kissed myself,” Timberlake said. (It was not the only time Timberlake invoked Britney Spears; later, he said, “the world has long been full of Madonna wannabes, and I might have even dated a couple.”)

[From The Detroit News]

In Madonna’s acceptance speech she said the “F” word a couple times, and made two drug references, but the Detroit News called it “honest and sincere.” Madonna thanked her ballet teacher in Detroit who “told me at the age of 14 that I was special, that I needed to believe in myself, that I needed to go out into the world and pursue my dreams.” She also said of the people who told her she couldn’t make it, “who said that I was talentless, that I was chubby, that I couldn’t sing… they pushed me to be better, and I am grateful for their resistance.”

Also inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night were John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, Gamble & Huff, late blues singer Little Walter, The Ventures and The Dave Clark Five. The lead singer of The Dave Clark Five, Mike Smith, passed away late last month, but his bandmate Dave Clark said “At least Mike knew he was a Hall of Famer.”

I am looking hard to find a clip of The Stooges performance of “Ray of Light” last night. Let me know if you’ve it and I’ll add it to the post.

Thanks to PRPhotos for these pictures.

The Brit Awards, England’s biggest music award ceremony, were held last night and featured performances from legendary and relatively new music greats including Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson and Kylie Minogue. Hosted by The Osbourne family, it was expected that there would be some minor controversy, but apart from a pre-show vow to beat up Heather Mills if she dared show her pinched face at the event, their hosting gig went off without a hitch. By most accounts, the show was relatively uneventful apart from the performances.

X-Factor winner Leona Lewis failed to take home any awards despite being nominated for four, and multiple Grammy-winning recently-rehabbed Amy Winehouse wasn’t up for an award in any category. She seemed a little nervous during her solo performance and pulled on her skirt, but as many of you have noted it must be difficult to perform sober when you’re used to being numbed out most of the time. At the end of her performance Winehouse gave her usual tribute to her husband in prison, and said “I love you baby,” and “Make some noise for my husband, my Blake.”

The big winners of the night were The Arctic Monkeys, Take That, and The Foo Fighters, all of whom took home two awards each. Here are the performances, thanks to ONTD and The Huffington Post.

Mika and Beth Ditto performing “Love Today,” “Standing in the Way of Control,” and “Grace Kelly”

Rihanna and the Klaxons perform “Umbrella”. I love her but this song needs to go away soon. I still hear it somewhere every f’ing day.

Kylie Minogue performs “Wow”

Mark Ronson with Adele, Daniel Merriweather, and Amy Winehouse performing “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face,” “Stop Me,” and “Valerie”

Amy Winehouse sings “Love is a Losing Game,” including a shout-out to her Blake

Sir Paul McCartney performs “Live and Let Die,” and “Hey Jude,” with photos playing in the background including his late wife Linda.

Here’s the full list of winners, thanks to Wikipedia:

British Male - Mark Ronson
British Female - Kate Nash
British Band - Arctic Monkeys
Best British Album - Arctic Monkeys, “Favourite Worst Nightmare”
British Single - Take That, “Shine”
British Breakthrough Act - Mika
British Live Act - Take That
International Male - Kanye West
International Female - Kylie Minogue
International Group - Foo Fighters
International Album - Foo Fighters, “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace”
Critics’ Choice - Adele
Outstanding Contribution to Music - Sir Paul McCartney, presented by Kylie Minogue.

Here are photos from the red carpet, including Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, Girls Aloud, Gemma Atkinson, The Osbournes, Beth Ditto, Kelly Rowland, Natasha Khan (Who I thought was Lily Allen at first) and Perez Hilton. (I could not pass up that picture. A “Hello Kitty” shower cap?! I know he’s just trying to get attention at his own expense, but really that’s sad.)

Update: Leave it to the Daily Mail to say there were “obscenities” and that the show was “embroiled in controversy.” Fellow celebrity blog Hecklerspray called them downright boring. It sounds like the Osbournes were just being themselves.