The killers rock and roll hall of fame

The 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Red Carpet Live (2018)3 of 8

The Killers, Carrie Keagan, Brandon Flowers, and Ronnie Vannucci in The 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Red Carpet Live (2018)

PeopleThe Killers, Carrie Keagan, Brandon Flowers, Ronnie Vannucci

TitlesThe 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Red Carpet Live

Introduction

Hook-savvy with the perfect combo of new wave and classic rock, you can't help but sing along to The Cars.

The band's magnetism and intellectual arrangements resonated with an audience ready to leave the left of the dial underground and cement themselves into the mainstream.

Hall of Fame Essay

2018

Every now and then, a band hits the ground running with a sound so developed, brash, and beyond established categories that it redefines them.

In 1978, the Cars were that band, arriving at a time of discord more than harmony, when musical tribes were at odds with one another: old-school rockers, punks, and New Wavers, pop music enthusiasts and fans of disco and other dance-floor sounds - each staking out territory to preserve and protect its own.

The Cars' brilliant, self-titled debut - all handclaps and quirky vocals, crunchy guitars, and futuristic synth lines - defied the divisions of the day and reminded us what rock was all about.

The Cars had it all: the looks, the hooks & beat romance lyrics

Photography: Tyler Twins; Getty/WireImage

Band paid tribute to lead Heartbreaker with rendition of "American Girl"

The Killers paid tribute to one of their formative influences, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, by playing an explosive cover of “American Girl” at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland on Saturday. 

The Killers romped through Petty’s single, filling Cleveland’s Public Hall with clipped, rollicking drums and ringing guitars. Brandon Flowers sang with his usual theatrical gusto, finishing the performance by segueing briefly into another Petty classic, “Free Fallin.'” Shots of Petty flashed across the screen throughout the tribute.

The Killers have long cited Petty’s mainstream-rock sensibilities as an inspiration. In 2012, when discussing their fourth studio album Battle Born,drummer Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. told Fuse, “The Petty flavor is in us. It might have an ingredient or two [in our sound].”

Last year, in an interview published a day before Petty died, Vannucci discussed how the lead Heartbreaker’s first solo album taught him to think differently about songwriting. “Up until 10 years ago, I never really paid attention to lyrics,” he told Forbes. “I knew the words and stuff, but I didn’t pay attention. But I was a kid, I remember skateboarding and stuff and playing drums and Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever came out. ‘I Won’t Back Down’ was that fucking song that, even if you’re a 12-year-old kid, that time that I was becoming my own dude, that was really helpful. And it’s still one of my favorite songs. You can be 8 or 80 years old, I still think it’s one of those songs that, if you’re human, will resonate with you.”

The Killers paid tribute to its hero about a week after Petty died of an accidental overdose of prescription painkillers last October by including two Heartbreakers songs, “American Girl” and “The Waiting,” in their Austin City Limits Festival set list. “It was just like somebody stabbed you in the heart when you heard that he died,” singer Brandon Flowers said at the gig. “I wish we knew more [songs], I’d have played more if we knew more. … His music will never die and we’re grateful for all that he did, and I wish we could tell him.”

Additional reporting by Andy Greene

Who inducted the cars into the Hall of Fame?

Are all the members of The Killers Mormon?

Are The Killers considered rock?

Is the band War in the Hall of Fame?