(TEXARKANA, TX.) — A search is ongoing in eastern Texas for a gunman who opened fire at a Halloween party attended by “at least a couple hundred” revelers, killing one and injuring nine, according to police.
The shooting started around 11:56 p.m. Saturday at Octavia’s Activity Center in Texarkana, according to a statement Sunday morning from the Texarkana Police Department.
“When they (police officers) got there, they encountered a large number of people running from the building and several inside suffering from gunshot wounds,” the police statement reads.
The gunman left the venue in a vehicle, setting off a massive search in eastern Texas.
A 20-year-old man, whose name was not immediately released, was mortally wounded and later pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.
Nine other people wounded in the shooting were taken to Wadley Regional Medical Center and CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital by ambulance and private vehicles, authorities said. None of them initially appeared to suffer life-threatening injuries, police said.
Officer Shawn Vaughn of the Texarkana Police Department said numerous 911 calls were made, prompting all patrol officers working at the time to respond, while another patrol shift was summoned to handle calls on the street, according to ABC affiliate station KTBS in Shreveport, Louisiana.
“When we got here, I understand there was a large crowd in the parking lot involved in several fights,” Vaughn said. “So, we requested assistance from any and everybody that was available.”
(WASHINGTON) — There was a sense of danger and urgency in the air at Hamid Karzai International Airport on the evening of Aug. 26. Sixteen hours earlier, the U.S. Embassy had warned American citizens to stay away from the airport, and intelligence suggested an attack could be imminent.
But Marine Sgt. Tyler Andrews had decided to use his down time from his sniper team’s overwatch position at Hamid Karzai International Airport to help get Afghans inside to safety and eventual evacuation from a country taken over by the resurgent Taliban.
A fellow serviceman and friend of Andrews was walking toward Abbey Gate, along the southeast edge of the airport, to meet up with him when an ISIS-K terrorist detonated his suicide vest, killing 13 U.S. troops and nearly 170 Afghan civilians.
“It knocked me to the ground,” the friend, who asked not to be named, told ABC News. “I got up and turned around, and then I see the plume of smoke behind me.”
Looking toward the gate he saw a Marine engulfed in flames being pushed to the ground and rolled. He saw another running in his direction, covered in blood, calling for a corpsman. Eventually, among the casualties, he saw Andrews.
His friend was alive.
Though he survived, Tyler lost his entire left leg and his right arm just above the elbow. He was first moved to Germany for treatment, and later to the esteemed Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where he continues to receive “emergency medical care,” according to the family.
The 23-year-old Marine made his first public statement since the attack on social media earlier this month, posted along with a photo from his hospital chair.
“Let me start by saying that these past almost 2 months have indeed been hard. I have been trying to figure out what I want to say and how to say it. The outpouring of support from friends, family, organizations, and even just complete strangers has been unreal. I won’t ever be able to thank everyone enough, but still, thank you,” Andrews wrote.
In a particularly wrenching segment of his statement, Andrews expressed his difficulty in sharing the recent picture.
“I hate the way I look right now and I’m working mentally on coming to terms with loss of my right arm and my left leg,” he wrote.
Putting aside the hospital setting and obvious injuries, Andrews looks like a model infantry Marine — tattooed, fit, with a well-manicured mustache and full coif of hair. Only when compared to older images does the extent of the change become evident.
A video shot at a gym in Saudi Arabia two weeks before the bombing shows Andrews deadlifting 530 pounds — arms, shoulders, chest bulging from his tank top.
“Laying in bed for almost 2 months has caused me to lose everything I had worked for physically,” he wrote.
Tyler has undergone 29 surgeries so far, “with numerous more ahead,” according to a family statement given to ABC News.
“His recovery efforts include extensive physical therapy and will take many years,” the statement said.
Despite all this, Tyler conveys a remarkably dogged, even humorous tone.
“Some days are better than others, but you best believe I will still strive to be the best version of myself regardless of these injuries. I just have new challenges now and physically am a different person, but I’ll see how far I can go with this new body haha,” Tyler wrote.
And he’ll have help throughout his recovery.
“He’s as tough as they come,” said Faun O’Neel, who runs a military and first responder support organization called Warfighter Overwatch with her husband, Danny.
The nonprofit has raised more than $25,000 to directly support Tyler and his family, according to O’Neel. A GoFundMe campaign created by members of Tyler’s unit has itself garnered more than $360,000 for the family.
Andrews is the last of the Marines injured in the Kabul suicide blast still at Walter Reed, which is far from both his hometown of Folsom, California, and his former duty station with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, at Camp Pendleton.
Visits and calls from comrades help stave off loneliness, and Warfighter Overwatch has used the funds it helped raise to rent an apartment just across from the hospital for his mother, an attorney in Folsom, as long as she needs it.
Warfighter Overwatch has also paired with Folsom-based Design Shop to renovate the family home to make it as comfortable as possible for his eventual return, O’Neel said.
Given the extent of his injuries, Andrews could be at Walter Reed for years.
But the last thing Andrews wants is pity, according to the friend who was walking to meet him when the bomb detonated in August. Based on recent phone calls to Walter Reed, Andrews sounds like a much better source of inspiration than pity.
“When we talked to him he was already like, ‘Yeah, man, I only got about a year and then I can start lifting again,'” the friend said.
(MEXICO CITY) — A large explosion attributed to a gas leak in east-central Mexico’s Puebla state has left at least one dead, 15 injured and damaged between 30 to 50 buildings, local government authorities are reporting.
Search and rescue crews are working to find people who could be trapped under collapsed buildings.
Around 1:34 a.m. local time, a gas leak was reported and around 2,000 people within 1 kilometer of the leak were evacuated, Puebla State Government officials said at a press conference Sunday.
The first of three explosions happened at 2:50 a.m., which officials said may have been caused by an illegal tap.
Of those hospitalized, four are minors and seven are adults. Five people are listed in serious condition, officials said.
“It is regrettable that one person has lost his/her life so far, and fifteen more are injured, due to the explosion of a Pemex pipeline in Puebla,” Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a statement Sunday. “Pemex has the fire under control and will ensure that families evicted from their homes remain safe.”
ABC News’ Anne Lauren contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is “optimistic” that the bipartisan infrastructure bill will pass the House and Senate, he said Sunday.
“We’re very optimistic the president put forward this framework because he believes that it will pass the House in the Senate and can get to his desk, and as soon as it does, it’s going to make such a difference in the lives of Americans,” Buttigieg told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.
Congress was not able to reach a deal on President Joe Biden’s $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill as the House pushed off the vote before Biden left for his trip to the G20 summit in Italy.
In her dear colleague letter that she sent out Thursday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reiterated members’ support for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, even though the vote has been postponed.
“The good news is that most members who were not prepared for a yes vote today have expressed their commitment to support the BIF.”
Even though there seems to be consensus among House members that they are prepared to pass the infrastructure bill, Stephanopoulos pointed out that a new ABC News/Ipsos poll shows that 69% of the public does not know much about what is in the bill, and 32% believe the bill will hurt them.
Buttigieg responded by focusing on the family-focused aspects of the bill, such as affordable child care, universal preschool and a possible child tax credit expansion. He addressed the audience directly saying, “[if] you have kids, nine out of 10 chance that you will personally benefit to the tune of hundreds or thousands of dollars from that child tax credit expansion.”
Stephanopoulos pressed Buttigieg over paid family leave being dropped from the bill and asked if there’s any chance of bringing the provision back.
“It’s definitely something that we believe in, and so while it is not in this framework, we’re gonna keep fighting for it,” Buttigieg said.
Despite the changes to the framework, Buttigieg defended the current state of the infrastructure package and said there’s a “sense of urgency” to get the bill passed because “American people are impatient to see pro-family policies.”
“It is the most transformative legislation for families, for health care, [and] for climate that we’ve seen, certainly in my lifetime, and it’s going to be an extraordinary achievement,” he said.
The secretary also mentioned an almost $12,500 discount on electric vehicles in an effort to “benefit the climate” and create more American jobs.
“So, look, whether you’re a policy wonk or whether you’re just trying to get through life raising your family, anybody who has ever driven on a road or a bridge, anybody who drinks water … anybody concerned about internet access coming to a neighborhood near you, this bill is for you,” Buttigieg said.
Even though Buttigieg is optimistic the bill will pass, Stephanopoulos pointed out that we have yet to see support for the bill from Democratic moderates Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
“Again, we’re the closest we have ever been,” Buttigieg said. “The president put forward this framework having talked to them and others throughout the progressive and moderate wings of our party, confident that it will pass.”
“I know you’re confident, but what are the consequences of failure?” Stephanopoulos pressed.
“Look, we just have to get this done. And I’m not just saying that politically. … We need bold action to set us up for success, not just getting through the winter but getting through the next decade and beyond,” Buttigieg said.
ABC News’ Quinn Scanlan contributed to this report.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
After skipping a full-on ceremony in 2020 due to the pandemic, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Gala returned in full force to Cleveland, OH on Saturday night, ushering in three long-deserving female acts in the same night: Carole King, Tina Turner and The Go-Go’s. Taylor Swift had the honor of opening the ceremony by inducting King, who’s been a huge musical influence on her.
—Taylor, wearing a lacy black bodysuit, performed King’s composition “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” which was a number-one hit for The Shirelles before King herself recorded it for her iconic 1971 album Tapestry. “I cannot remember a time when I didn’t know Carole King’s music,” Taylor told the crowd during her induction speech, adding that her parents raised her to believe King was “the greatest songwriter of all time.”
“Her songs speak to the true and honest feelings that everyone has felt, is currently feeling, or hopes to feel one day,” Taylor said, adding that the release of Tapestry was a “watershed moment for humans in the world who have feelings and for cats who had big dreams of one day ending up on iconic album covers.”
“Carole taught artists like me that telling your own story is worth the work and struggle it takes to earn the opportunity for your story to be heard,” Taylor noted. “She created the purest works of love and strength and catharsis while navigating the politics of an era that didn’t make space for the idea of a female genius. Slowly but surely, Carole King worked and worked until she had created one. And it will be hers forever.”
King, who’d already been inducted as a songwriter in 1990, thanked Taylor for “carrying the torch,” and called her “my professional granddaughter.” Jennifer Hudson then took the stage to perform “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” followed by King herself leading the crowd in a singalong of “You’ve Got a Friend.”
—Angela Bassett, star of the Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It, inducted Turner for the second time — she had already been inducted in 1991 as one half of Ike & Tina Turner. Among the artists paying tribute to Turner: Christina Aguilera, who performed a stunning rendition of the Ike & Tina Turner classic, “River Deep, Mountain High.”
—Drew Barrymore inducted the pioneering all-female band the Go-Go’s, and recreated the cover of their album Beauty and the Beat by wrapping herself in a bath towel and applying face cream. “Beauty and the Beat blew the doors of my life off,” she told the crowd, adding, “They made me believe in things that weren’t possible.”
–Other honorees included JAY-Z, inducted by Dave Chappelle, and Foo Fighters, inducted by Paul McCartney. LL Cool J was honored with the Musical Excellence Award and after being inducted by Dr. Dre, he performed his hits with help from Eminem and Jennifer Lopez.
(NEW YORK) — Legendary ABC News journalist and political commentator Cokie Roberts has “two legacies,” said her husband of more than 50 years.
“The public Cokie and the private Cokie,” fellow journalist Steven Roberts said in an interview with ABC News’ Martha Raddatz. “The public Cokie was someone who was such a role model for women … but that was only half of her legacy.”
“The other half … [was her belief that] everybody can be a good person. Everybody can learn something about those private acts of generosity and charity and friendship,” he continued. “She lived the gospel every day, and some might say that’s the most important legacy she leaves.”
Cokie Roberts was a fixture on national television and radio for more than 40 years. She won countless awards, including three Emmys, throughout her decades-long career. She was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the 50 greatest women in the history of broadcasting. She also wrote five best-selling books focusing on the role of women in American history.
“I had so many people say to me, ‘I went to journalism because of Cokie,'” Steven Roberts said. “Countless young women saw her on TV, heard her on radio, and said, ‘I can be her, I could be that strong. I could be that smart. I don’t want have to hide who I am. I can be myself. I could be a strong independent woman.'”
His book, “Cokie: A Life Well Lived,” available Tuesday, is a tribute to his beloved wife after losing her to breast cancer in 2019. It documents their 53-year marriage, her public achievements as well as private life, which he feels was even more inspirational.
Cokie and Steven Roberts met very young while in college. He was 19 and at Harvard. She was 18 and attending Wellesley.
“We were at a student political meeting. I had known her sister. She had known my twin brother,” he recalled. “Our dorms back in Boston are only 12 and a half miles apart.”
Cokie was the daughter of political scions. Her parents, Hale and Lindy Boggs, both served in Congress, representing the city of New Orleans for a total of almost 50 years.
“The speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, was a frequent dinner guest during her childhood in the 1950s (in the home I still live in), and President and Mrs. Johnson came to our wedding in 1966 (in the garden of that home),” writes Steven Roberts.
He joked that he fell in love with his future mother-in-law first and “eventually got to Cokie.”
She was a staunch Catholic, and he was Jewish. Roberts said it took him three years to propose. He was 23 and she was 22 at the time.
“My mother often said that the first Passover Seder she ever attended was at her Catholic daughter-in-law’s … and there was a joke in the family. She was the best Jew in the family,” he said.
After they got married, Steven Roberts said the couple moved four times over the next 11 years for his job as a New York Times correspondent, and yet, “everywhere we went, [Cokie] worked somehow.” She started her career as a radio foreign correspondent for CBS in the 1970s.
“When we lived in Greece … there was a coup in Cyprus. I flew off to Cyprus, but then … the Greek government fell and after seven years of military rule, it was the biggest story in the world that week,” he said. “[Cokie] started covering it for CBS… I come back to find I’m married to a veteran foreign correspondent.”
Cokie Robert then joined NPR as a full-time staff journalist, covering Capitol Hill and reporting on the Panama Canal Treaty. She was only 34 years old. In 1987, she was brought in for a onetime trial for ABC News’ “This Week’s” roundtable. It was the number one Sunday morning show, but it featured three white men — Sam Donaldson, George Will and David Brinkley — and there was pressure on ABC to make the cast more diverse.
Her one-time trial became a weekly appearance and she ultimately earned her chair at the table. Roberts co-anchored ABC’s “This Week” with Donaldson from 1996 to 2002. She also served as polictical commentator, chief congressional analyst and a commentator for “This Week” during her three decades at ABC.
Her husband believes that the real core of her appeal was to other women, who thought, “wait, somebody who thinks like me, somebody talks like me, somebody who sees the world the way I did.”
“And that was really the base of her success of ABC,” Roberts said.
He explains that in those days women thought they had to choose between a professional career and having a personal life. Cokie Roberts, with two children, six grandchildren and a long marriage, still managed to have the career she did.
Steven Roberts said she would tell women all the time as she helped them in their navigate the pitfalls and obstacles.
“She said, ‘you can do this. It is not possible to have everything all the time, but you can have it most of the time,’” he said.
Cokie Roberts was also, according to her husband, “very tough on men who she felt were dissembling or mistreating women.”
When President George W. Bush nominated former Sen. John Tower, R-Texas, for Secretary of Defense, Sam Donaldson brought up rumors of “womanizing” on the show. Tower turned to Roberts and demanded a definition of the term “womanizing.” She quickly retorted in one of the most memorable moments on television, “I think most women know it when they see it Senator.”
Steven Roberts noted that the reaction was “phenomenal,” particularly among women.
Cokie Roberts was also open about her long battle with breast cancer. She was first diagnosed in 2002, but long before then, she had become an advocate for breast cancer research when two of her friends, in their 50s, died of breast cancer in the same week.
“When she was diagnosed herself she knew all about it, and it was a devastating blow,” Steven Roberts said. “But she got a lot of good treatment and she lived for 14 years within remission.”
In “Cokie,” Steven Roberts wrote of his simple goal in honoring his wife.
“To tell stories, some will make you cheer or laugh or cry,” he wrote. “And some, I hope, will inspire you to be more like Cokie, to be a good person, to lead a good life.”
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said Sunday he, Rep. Liz Cheney and “a few others” are the only House Republicans “telling the truth.”
“You can fight to try to tell the truth, you can fight against the cancer in the Republican Party of lies of conspiracy of dishonesty,” Kinzinger told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview. “There are about 190 people in the Republican Party that aren’t going to say a word, and there’s a leader of the Republican caucus that is embracing Donald Trump with all he can.”
Kinzinger announced Friday he will not seek reelection to Congress next term. Among House Republicans, the Illinois congressman is one of the most prominent critics of former President Donald Trump and was one of 10 Republicans in the House to vote to impeach Trump following the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Kinzinger, who serves on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, said in a video posted to Twitter the “time is now” to move on from serving in Congress.
“In order to break the narrative, I cannot focus on both a real election to Congress and a broader fight nationwide,” he said in the five-minute video. “I want to make it clear, this isn’t the end of my political future, but the beginning.”
Stephanopoulos pressed Kinzinger on what led him to make the decision.
“Just a month ago, you were confident you were going to run again, what changed? Was it the redistricting plan that was put forward by Democrats in Illinois that basically squeezed you out of your district?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“It’s a couple of things — it’s sitting back and saying, ‘OK, what happens if I win again?’ I go back, and Republicans will probably be in the majority,” Kinzinger responded. “I’m going to be fighting even harder on some of these things, and it’s been obvious over the last 10 months that nobody … I haven’t seen any momentum in the party move away from lies and toward truth.”
“Ten years ago, the Democrats in Illinois came after me, and threw me with an incumbent Republican, and they did it again — I’m not complaining, it’s redistricting,” he added. “But when Democrats do say they want Republican partners to tell the truth, and then they specifically target me, it makes you wonder.”
Responding to the news, Trump wrote “2 down, 8 to go!” in a statement referencing the 10 GOP representatives who voted to impeach him. Kinzinger became the second of the group to announce they would not run for reelection after Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, did so in September.
Stephanopoulos pressed Kinzinger on whether his announcement hands Trump “another win.”
“Potentially, but I don’t think it was my decision that would hand Donald Trump a win,” Kinzinger responded. “I think it is — it’s the situation we find ourselves in.”
Kinzinger said if Trump runs for president again in 2024, “he’ll be the front-runner no doubt.”
“The Republican establishment now — whether it’s the [National Republican Congressional Committee], whether it’s Kevin McCarthy — have held onto Donald Trump,” he said. “They have continued to breathe life into him, and so actually, it’s not handing a win as much to Donald Trump as it is to the cancerous kind of lies and conspiracy” that are now the “mainstream argument of the Republican Party.”
“It’s not on Liz Cheney and I to save the Republican Party,” Kinzinger added. “It’s on the 190 Republicans who haven’t said a dang word about it, and they put their head in the sand and hope somebody else comes along and does something.”
Kinzinger and Cheney are the sole Republicans on the Jan. 6 committee. A new court filing released early Saturday morning revealed some of the records Trump is attempting to block the National Archives from turning over to the committee.
“I think if you look at that archive request and what the former president is trying to block, it is very telling,” Kinzinger said. “We are going to fight as hard as we can to get that, and the president has no grounds to claim executive privilege as he is today.”
Pressed by Stephanopoulos on whether the committee will have enough evidence to prosecute the former president, Kinzinger said he’s not comfortable making that statement yet but said the committee is continuing to learn new information every day.
“If the president was aware of what was going to happen, didn’t do anything — didn’t lift a finger to do anything about it, that’s up to the DOJ to make that decision,” he said.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
After skipping a full-on ceremony in 2020 due to the pandemic, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Gala returned in full force to Cleveland, OH on Saturday night, ushering in three long-deserving female acts in the same night: Carole King, Tina Turner and the Go-Go‘s.
—Taylor Swift opened the ceremony by performing King’s “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” a number-one hit for The Shirelles before King herself recorded it for her iconic album Tapestry. “I cannot remember a time when I didn’t know Carole King’s music,” Taylor told the crowd during her induction speech, adding that her parents raised her to believe King was “the greatest songwriter of all time.”
King, who’d already been inducted as a songwriter in 1990, thanked Taylor for “carrying the torch,” and called her “my professional granddaughter.” She also acknowledged that even though she’s been told “that today’s female singers and songwriters stand on my shoulders,” we shouldn’t forget that “they also stand on the shoulders of the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. May she rest in power, Miss Aretha Franklin!”
Jennifer Hudson then took the stage to perform “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” followed by King herself leading the crowd in a singalong of “You’ve Got a Friend.”
—Angela Bassett, star of the Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It, inducted Turner for the second time — she had already been inducted in 1991 as one half of Ike & Tina Turner. As Bassett noted, “What brings us here tonight is Tina’s journey to independence. For Tina, hope triumphed over hate…ambition eclipsed adversity.”
Turner herself didn’t attend; she sent a pre-recorded thank you instead. Instead, country star Mickey Guyton took the stage in Tina’s iconic ’80s uniform of denim jacket and black leather dress to sing “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” Then, country star Keith Urban and Oscar-winning R&B star H.E.R. sang “It’s Only Love.” Urban stepped in last-minute for Bryan Adams, Tina’s original duet partner on the song, who’d tested positive for COVID.
Christina Aguilerabrought it all home with a stunning rendition of the Ike & Tina Turner classic, “River Deep, Mountain High.”
—Drew Barrymore inducted the Go-Go’s, and recreated the cover of their album Beauty and the Beat by wrapping herself in a bath towel and applying face cream. “Beauty and the Beat blew the doors of my life off,” she told the crowd, adding, “They made me believe in things that weren’t possible.”
Accepting their honor, bass player Kathy Valentine said now that the Go-Go’s had been inducted, they’d be “advocating for the inclusion of more women,” adding, “Here is the thing: There would not be less of us if more of us were visible.” The band then rocked the crowd with “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat.”
–Other honorees included JAY-Z, inducted by Dave Chappelle and Foo Fighters, inducted by Paul McCartney.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
After skipping a full-on ceremony in 2020 due to the pandemic, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Gala returned in full force to Cleveland, OH on Saturday night, ushering in Foo Fighters, Carole King, Go-Gos, Tina Turner, Todd Rundgren, JAY-Z and more.
—Paul McCartney inducted Foo Fighters, and compared Dave Grohl‘s post-Nirvana career to his own time in Wings, noting, “We had a great time with our groups, but eventually tragedy happened and my group broke up. Same happened with Dave. His group broke up under tragic circumstances. So the question is, what do you do now?”
“In my case, I said, ‘Well, I’ll make an album where I play all the instruments myself.’ So I did that,” Macca continued. “Dave’s group broke up…what’s he do? He makes an album where he plays all the instruments himself. Do you think this guy’s stalking me?”
The Foos performed “Everlong,” “Best of You” and “My Hero” before taking the podium. Grohl’s acceptance speech was short, he explained, “because the last 25 years has been me, just like, ‘Blah, blah, blah … rock & roll … blah, blah, blah.’” He thanked his band and crew family, and his actual family, ending with “We did it!” In his speech, drummer Taylor Hawkins campaigned for the eventual induction of Soundgarden and George Michael.
The night concluded with McCartney and Foo Fighters jamming on “Get Back.”
—Drew Barrymore inducted the Go-Go’s, and recreated the cover of their album Beauty and the Beat by wrapping herself in a bath towel and applying face cream. “Beauty and the Beat blew the doors of my life off,” she told the crowd, adding, “They made me believe in things that weren’t possible.”
Accepting their honor, bass player Kathy Valentine said now that the Go-Go’s had been inducted, they’d be “advocating for the inclusion of more women,” adding, “Here is the thing: There would not be less of us if more of us were visible.” The band then rocked the crowd with “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat.”
—Angela Bassett, star of the Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It, inducted Turner for the second time — she had already been inducted in 1991 as one half of Ike & Tina Turner. As Bassett noted, “What brings us here tonight is Tina’s journey to independence. For Tina, hope triumphed over hate…ambition eclipsed adversity.”
Turner herself didn’t attend; she sent a pre-recorded thank you. Instead, country star Mickey Guyton took the stage in Tina’s iconic ’80s uniform of denim jacket and black leather dress to sing “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” Then, country star Keith Urban and Oscar-winning R&B star H.E.R. sang “It’s Only Love.” Urban stepped in last-minute for Bryan Adams, Tina’s original duet partner on the song, who’d tested positive for COVID.
Christina Aguilerabrought it all home with a stunning rendition of the Ike & Tina Turner classic, “River Deep, Mountain High.”
—Todd Rundgren, who’s said for many years that if inducted, he wouldn’t attend, pointedly booked a concert the night of the ceremony. He was virtually inducted by Patti Smith, who’s known Todd since their twenties. A tribute video included commentary from The Bangles‘ Susannah Hoffs and Daryl Hall.
—Taylor Swift opened the ceremony by performing King’s “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” a number-one hit for The Shirelles before King herself recorded it for her iconic album Tapestry. “I cannot remember a time when I didn’t know Carole King’s music,” Taylor told the crowd during her induction speech, adding that her parents raised her to believe King was “the greatest songwriter of all time.”
King, who’d already been inducted as a songwriter in 1990, acknowledged that even though she’s been told “that today’s female singers and songwriters stand on my shoulders,” we shouldn’t forget that “they also stand on the shoulders of the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. May she rest in power, Miss Aretha Franklin!”
Jennifer Hudson then took the stage to perform “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” followed by King herself leading the crowd in a singalong of “You’ve Got a Friend.”
–Other honorees included JAY-Z, inducted by Dave Chappelle, and Musical Excellence Award recipients Randy Rhoads, inducted by Tom Morello; Kraftwerk, inducted by Pharrell Williams; Billy Preston, inducted virtually by Ringo Starr; Gil Scott-Heron, inducted by Common; LL Cool J, inducted by Dr. Dre; and bluesman Charley Patton, inducted by Gary Clark Jr.
