John Mellencamp Honors Republic Records at Grammy Hall of Fame Gala

The Recording Academy and Grammy Museum held the second-ever Grammy Hall of Fame Gala at the Beverly Hilton Friday night, where iconic recordings including Cat Stevens’ Tea for the Tillerman, Santana’s Supernatural and Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt and Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga” were all officially inducted, while John Mellencamp, John Batiste, Conan Gray and Emmylou Harris were among the night’s performers.

Mellencamp and Gray performed as a tribute to Republic Records, which was selected as this year‘s label honoree for the event.

“They told me not to say anything about politics, so I won’t say anything about how terribly the country’s being run,” Mellencamp quipped to cheers and applause as he took the stage toward the end of the evening, before performing his 1985 song “Small Town.”

Mellencamp also performed “Longest Days” before finishing with his classic “Jack and Diane,” teasing the crowd as some started singing the chorus too early before he sang even the second verse. Gray preceded Mellencamp with a performance of his hit “Heather.” 

Thirteen recordings were officially inducted for Friday’s ceremony: Tea for the Tillerman, Supernatural, Reasonable Doubt, “Conga,” Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball, Luther Vandross’s Never Too Much, Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” Geeshie Wiley’s “Last Kind Words Blues,” J.D. Crowe & The New South’s J.D. Crowe & The New South, Big Star’s Number 1 Record, Fela Kuti’s Zombie and Clara Ward’s “How I Got Over,” and Linda Martell’s “Color Him Father.”

Friday’s event marked the Recording Academy’s second year holding a Hall of Fame Gala after launching the initiative last year at the Novo in downtown Los Angeles. Like last year, the former longtime Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich produced the event, while CBS News journalist Anthony Mason Hosted.

Those in attendance Friday night were Republic founders Monte and Avery Lipman, longtime Republic executive Wendy Goldstein, Universal Music Enterprises CEO Bruce Resnikoff, Jimmy Jam, John Legend and Charlie Puth, among others. 

Beyond Mellencamp and Gray, singer Ledisi kicked off the performances with a cover of “How I got Over,” Leslie Odom Jr. honored Vandross, and Harris performed several Wrecking Ball songs with her producer Daniel Lanois and drummer Brian Blade before accepting her album’s induction in person Floyd performed “Knock on Wood” with Big Star’s Jody Stephens.

While Carlos Santana wasn’t present, his wife and drummer Cindy Blackman performed “Smooth” with Santana collaborator Andy Varga, while guitarist Orianthi filled in for the guitar legend. The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs covered Cat Stevens’ “Wild World” after Stevens accepted the honor with a pre-recorded video. Gloria Estefan accepted “Conga’s” induction in person, just after Latin Grammy nominee Leslie Grace covered the song while she watched from the crowd. Estefan recalled writing the song on a plane going from Holland to England. 

“We went back home and started performing it before recording it, and people would respond that it was already a hit,” Estefan said. “We’re appreciative to the Academy and all the fans that still play since and dance the conga.”

Meanwhile, Batiste earned a standing ovation with his virtuosic piano in a soulful cover of Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind,” a fitting pick as he was selected as the first ever recipient of the Ray Charles Architect of Sound award. 

“It’s beyond words to say what it means to inherit [Charles’] genius and his lineage,” Batiste said, thanking his parents for championing his musical career. He recalled hearing Ray Charles for the first time in a Pepsi commercial. “[Charles] figured out a way to speak the truth of something that is bigger than all of us. And I hope that I can continue to be able to be in that lineage and just to continue to use my God-given gifts and ability to shine light on forgotten people in a time where, in the world, we need to love each other more.“

After his performance, Mellencamp, signed a lifetime deal with Republic a decade ago and headed to the podium to give an off-the-cuff speech honoring the Lipman brothers.

“I think it’s odd for me to be giving an award to record company presidents. I shoved a record company president once, I’ve cussed them out, I’ve had a hard time with them,” Mellencamp told the crowd. ”But Monte and Avery, they’re in the music business. They like music. They also like business. But they like music first. So many times I’ve had record company presidents who just thought they were the fucking stars. If you’re a record company president you can’t be more important than the stars.”

The Lipman brothers then took the stage for a quick speech before Batiste came out for an outro performance. “My heart is so full,” Monte Lipman said, naming a long list of family members who all came to the event Friday. He recalled he and his brother growing up poor, and entertaining each other by singing songs they heard on the radio, partly because they didn’t have a television.

“My greatest accomplishment of all is the fact that I did this with my brother,” Monte Lipman said.

Avery Lipman spoke last, thanking UMG CEO Lucian Grainge, the Republic staff, and the artists they’ve worked with since starting Republic in the ‘90s. “All the artists we work with, most had choices, and the fact they chose us, I was always in awe,” Avery Lipman said. “These are their careers and dreams and they chose us. We always take that responsibility so seriously every day.”