Yes Induction Acceptance Speeches Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2017

Comments · 1.7K

• SC

  @scottlalexander510 · 5 years ago

  Rick Wakeman had to join a rock band in 1971 and wait 46 years to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in order to finally live his dream of being a stand-up comedian! Now that’s perseverance and determination!

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• ED

  @Ed9870 · 7 years ago

  Clearly a man who wore a cape most of his career would have a sharp sense of humor.

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• JP

  @JP-pm5hj · 5 years ago

  Jon’s speech: serious/funny<br>Trevor’s speech: funny/happy<br>Alan’s speech: happy/serious<br>Steve’s speech: serious/serious<br>Rick’s speech: funny/funny

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• ST

  @stevenhunter3345 · 7 years ago

  I love seeing Geddy and Alex cracking up during Wakeman&apos;s speech.

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• CR

  @cronistamundano8189 · 11 months ago

  I am a Urologist and every year since then Wakeman&apos;s speech show up in urology circles, specially in november

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• DA

  @davekirby6580 · 7 years ago

  I interviewed Wakeman about six months after this, and brought this up. He said he asked Rabin before they went on whether he should do these jokes, and Rabin urged him to do it. &nbsp; TrainInVain guy got it exactly right - Wakeman said that no one cares about hearing about the inductees&apos; grandmother or whatever. Everyone takes their speeches too seriously. &nbsp;He said he just wanted to have a bit of fun and wanted everyone to lighten up a bit. This was, remember, when Howe was extremely distressed about Anderson going out on tour playing Yes music and felt that he and Wakeman were promoting a competing (and lessor) version of the band, presumably to Howe&apos;s detriment. Wakeman&apos;s attitude was, basically, c&apos;mon guys, we&apos;re all in our sixties and seventies. We&apos;ve all done well and have a lot to be thankful for. We&apos;re too old for petty nonsense. <br><br>Rick is a funny guy....and one hell of a pianist.

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• DA

  @danmccarthy4700 · 7 years ago

  Who would&apos;ve thought a dude who wears a cape while playing music would be hilarious behind a mic?

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• SK

  @skybluemarshall · 6 years ago

  For the record, Anderson and Rabin put Wakeman up to it. They told him to go for it and do his comedy thing, backstage, before they came out. Wakeman finds most acceptable speeches to be repetitive and boring. Everyone knows the band&apos;s history and all of the thank yous puts the audience to sleep.<br><br> It wasn&apos;t hard to convince Wakeman to improvise some jokes, but he had to think about it and come up with a solution in a very short amount of time, because most of his comedy is based on old stories and anecdotes with lengthy set ups. <br><br>He had to quickly figure out how to piece together a string of one liners and work them into something that vaguely resembled a thank you speech. I think he did an excellent job for a freestyle bit.

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• SC

  @scottnewman2082 · 9 years ago

  Jon seems like a little hippie elf. Peace and love

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• TH

  @TheSateef · 8 years ago

  wow, after Rick Wakeman&apos;s speech i&apos;m starting to think Alex has met his match

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• JO

  @JoeGarchar1960 · 9 years ago

  Rick Wakeman is one of the infamous secret Monty Python society members. Thank God for his musical abilities and sense of humor. I have been a Yes fan for 47 years and it&apos;s long overdue for Yes and all of its members and don&apos;t forget keyboardist Tony Kaye.

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• TH

  @theuserjoan · 5 years ago

  “Ok, I’m Steve Howe.”<br><br><b>Intense applause</b>

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