[Pictures 12th March 2007] Chris Martin @ Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Chris Martin attended the 22nd Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Awards, which were held yesterday at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. You can view all the pictures here

Seminal rock bands R.E.M. and Van Halen, punk poet Patti Smith, hip-hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and influential girl group the Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12 during a ceremony at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel broadcast live on VH1 Classic.

Eddie Vedder inducted REM, saying that the inductees "took [Pearl Jam] under their wings. They became like big brothers." REM frontman Michael Stipe returned the favor, saying, "The honor of being here is heightened four times over by the other artists here tonight." The band then played "Begin the Begin", "Gardening at Night" (which Stipe dedicated to his father) and "Man on the Moon" (with an assist from Vedder) with former drummer Bill Berry, who retired from R.E.M in 1997.

Van Halen, whose planned summer reunion tour with David Lee Roth was recently postponed indefinitely, was represented only by former singer Sammy Hagar and former bassist Michael Anthony. Roth reportedly refused to attend the ceremony after squabbling with Rock Hall organizers about what songs he would perform, and neither of the Van Halen brothers were on hand as Eddie Van Halen entered rehab for undisclosed reasons last week. Velvet Revolver performed a medley of "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" and "Best of Both Worlds," while Hagar and Anthony jammed on "Why Can't This Be Love" with the house band led by Paul Shaffer. "I can't tell you how much I wish everyone was here tonight," Hagar said. "[but] I think Eddie's going to come out the other side a better person, and maybe we'll get our buddy back. You couldn't have kept me from here with a shotgun."

Jay-Z read the induction speech he wrote for Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five from his Blackberry before the seminal rap combo took the stage for the first time in more than a decade, performing a medley of songs such as "Superrappin'", "Freedom", "White Lines", and "The Message". Flash also put on a scratching display from his turntable perch.

Making a rare public appearance ahead of a reunion by his band Rage Against The Machine, Zack De La Rocha inducted Patti Smith into the Hall. After an emotional acceptance lamenting those who couldn't be there to see her induction (including her late husband, MC5's Fred "Sonic" Smith), Smith promptly tore into a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," followed by the Bruce Springsteen-penned hit "Because the Night" and "Rock'n'Roll Nigger," which she said was her late mother's "favorite song to vacuum to."

Keith Richards inducted the Ronettes before Ronnie Spector (ex-husband of producer Phil Spector) and the rest of the group (without Estelle Bennett, who did not perform for health reasons) played a medley of "Baby I Love You," "Walking in the Rain" and "Be My Baby". Bandleader Paul Shaffer read a note from PhilSpector, who is awaiting a murder trial in California, which said, "I wish them all the happiness and good fortune the world has to offer."

[Thanks Dyermaker89]