Lördagen den 7 november 2020 installerade Ringo Starr sin bortgångne vän Marc Bolan (född den 30 september 1947 i Hackney, London, död den 16 september 1977 i Barnes i London) och hans band T.Rex i Rock and Roll Hall of Fame i en förinspelad ceremoni.
I början av 1970-talet blev T. Rex snabbt ett fenomen och skapade Beatlesliknande hängivenhet bland sina fans som ledare för Englands glamrockscen tillsammans med Bolans vän David Bowie.
Ringo Starr erbjöd sig att dokumentera en av T. Rex konserter på Wembley Arena i London tidigt 1972, bara några månader innan bandet gav ut sitt album The Slider som blev en milstolpe i T. Rex produktion.
Inspelningen var framträdande i Ringo Starrs film Born To Boogie, som gavs ut av Apple Films i slutet av 1972. Ringo kom att sätt värde på tiden som han tillbringade tilsammans med Marc innan han gick bort 1977.
Ringo Starr delade med sig av några av sina favoritminnen av sångaren i den virtuella induktionsceremonin som också hedrade artisterna Depeche Mode, Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails och Notorious B.I.G.
Så här löd Ringo Starrs induktionstal till Marc Bolan:
People knew him as a great musician, a songwriter, a guitarist, but he was also a poet. And he was really proud of that.Advertisement.
He was always telling me that he was the Number One selling poet in Britain. In fact, his poetry was as important to him as his music. He had great style and was really unlike anyone else I have ever met.
He was a great performer, just incredible. And that’s why I called the film we did together ’Born to Boogie’, because he really was. I told Marc, I’ll bring the camera and everything else, you just bring yourself. We had a lot of fun together. I remember lots of laughter.
We lost him way too young, but in his short life, he made over 12 albums that are as far out and ahead of their time as he was. With the help of [producer] Tony Visconti and his band T. Rex, Marc’s style started a lot of trends. They called it glam rock with singles such as ‘Get It On’, ‘Children of the Revolution’, and, of course, ‘Born to Boogie’.
Ringo sammanfattade det hela mot slutet av sitt tal med orden:
But it was always just great music to me. And that’s why people are still listening to T. Rex today. There’s no doubt they believe in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — finally. And I’m very proud to welcome them in right now. Peace and love to [T. Rex members] Marc, Mickey, Steve, and Bill, and peace and love to all the fans from me and T. Rex. Peace and Love.
Lyssna på Ringo Starrs induktionstal till Marc Bolan och hans band T. Rex samt se Marc Bolan in action i nedanstående video.