Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck rock Hall of Fame induction

More than 6,000 music fans were treated to a night of raucous performances in Cleveland as metal band Metallica, rappers Run-DMC and guitar virtuoso Jeff Beck were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

For the first time, the show was open to the public and it also marked a return to Cleveland following a 12-year stint in New York's Waldorf-Astoria ballroom.

Others being inducted at Saturday night's ceremony included soul singer and songwriter Bobby Womack, Rockabilly performer Wanda Jackson  and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials, whose hits included Tears on My Pillow and Hurt So Bad.

"Whatever the intangible elements are that make a band the best, Metallica has them," said Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bass player, introducing the band.

Describing is reaction to hearing Metallica over the radio for the first time, Flea said: "My mind was blown. It wasn't punk rock. It wasn't heavy metal. It just stood by itself."

Current members of the band were joined onstage by Ray Burton, father of original bassist Cliff Burton, who died in 1986 after the band's bus skidded off a road in Sweden.

"Dream big and dare to fail," said frontman James Hetfield, who hugged his longtime bandmate Lars Ulrich. 

Hetfield went on to salute the bands that inspired Metallica: "Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Rush, Kiss, Ted Nugent, Iron Maiden [and] Motorhead."

Jason Newsted, who left the band in 2001, reunited with his ex-bandmates for lightning renditions of  Master of Puppets and Enter Sandman.

Jeff Beck inducted 2nd time around for solo work

Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page came on later to induct Beck, who was already in the Hall as a member of the Yardbirds, who were inducted in 1992.  Beck is being included for his solo work which has spanned genres from jazz to electronica.

"Jeff's style is totally unorthodox to the way anyone was taught," noted Page, who joined Beck to play a rendition of Zeppelin's Immigrant Song.

Rapper Eminem had the honour of presenting Run-DMC, which broke barriers in the 1980s for rap music and paved the way for melding rock with rap in their collaboration with Aerosmith on Walk This Way.

"We knew the culture was a way of life and we just lived it," said Darryl (D.M.C) McDaniels. "The music that we made then didn't just impact friends, it impacted a generation."

McDaniels was inducted along with Joseph (DJ Run) Simmons and the late Jason (Jam Master Jay) Mizell, who was shot outside his studio in 2002.