The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomed Sheryl Crow with a fellow inductee and one of her biggest young fans as Stevie Nicks and Olivia Rodrigo both performed the singer’s hits at the 2023 induction ceremony.
The evening kicked off with Rodrigo assisting Crow on her 1996 hit “If It Makes You Happy.” The duo — who recently performed the song together at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe — traded off verses, with Crow on electric guitar and Rodrigo on acoustic.
Laura Dern, delivering the induction speech, told the crowd, “She mapped out the chapters of our lives and has continued to be a multi-generational muse for everything we feel, always discovering a newness to reflect on in herself and in us. With success came massive sales, numerous awards. But Sheryl, she makes art because she has to. For her, success has never been measured outside herself.”
Following Dern’s speech, Crow and Nicks — inducted as both a member of Fleetwood Mac and, in 2019, as a solo artist — performed a gorgeous rendition of Crow’s ballad “Strong Enough.” Both musicians were wearing Nicks’ “sisters of the moon” necklaces. Peter Frampton then appeared onstage as all three musicians tore through “Everyday Is a Winding Road.”
“This is a little bit like getting an Oscar for a screenplay you haven’t finished writing yet,” Crow said, joking that her original acceptance speech was seven-and-a-half hours long. “For me, it’s just a huge thrill and definitely a very big honor for me to get to be inducted alongside one of the people I admire most on this planet, and that’s Willie Nelson.”
Crow and Rodrigo’s mutual admiration dates back to when Crow presented Rodrigo with the Billboard Women in Music award in 2022. “Her songs have a visceral power to them that touches your core. I say to you, Olivia: ‘You’re going to be around for a very long time,’” Crow told Rodrigo.
The “Vampire” singer said during her speech, “Sheryl, I’m such a massive fan of you and your songwriting and I’m so grateful that you’re here. It really means the world.”
Both Rodrigo and Crow were also on hand at the 2022 Rock Hall induction ceremony, albeit to celebrate different artists: Rodrigo performed inductee Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” while Crow honored Dolly Parton with both an induction speech and a rendition of “9 to 5.”
Crow and Nicks, longtime friends who also have a history of sharing the stage and the studio together, and the Fleetwood Mac singer was among the first to congratulate Crow on the Rock Hall induction.
“Congratulations, Miz Crow for your upcoming induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ~ I am so proud of you ~ It’s a very elite club for us women,” Nicks wrote at the time. “I found out at 4 o’clcok this morning and had to dance around my room for you. See you on the road! Love you, Stevie.”