Jim Dyson/Getty Images; Chiaki Nozu/WireImage; Scott Gries/Getty ImagesAlice Cooper doesn't look like Britney Spears, but he still managed to wear a snake rather well.
The "School's Out" singer, already clad in what looked like a blood-spattered shirt, draped a yellow boa constrictor over his shoulders to accept his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, one of eight artists and recording pioneers ushered into the prestigious yet ever-broadening club Monday night at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan.
"Alice Cooper invented the rock show. Before Alice Cooper, there was no rock show," heavy metalist Rob Zombie said in tribute to his pal.
As always, the star power doing the honors matched and—depending on your tastes—perhaps one-upped the talent receiving the honors.
Two-time Hall of Famer Paul Simon was on hand to induct Neil Diamond, another seemingly ageless crowd-pleaser, into the Hall, while the ubiquitous John Legend appeared to do the same for blues-and-jazz titan Dr. John.
"He has never stopped flying the flag of funk, and tonight, he is definitely in the right place at the right time," Legend said of Dr. John, who told the crowd he felt "blessed to be singing, to be breathing."
"Listening to her songs, you had to dance, you had to move, you had to keep looking for that rebel boy," Bette Midler said of inductee Darlene Love, the distinguishable lead voice on the Crystals' 1962 chart-topper "He's a Rebel."
Neil Young inducted "indescribable" singer-songwriter Tom Waits, and Elton John inducted his most hirsute collaborator to date, pianist Leon Russell.
"They say that I have no hits and that I'm difficult to work with. And they say that like it's a bad thing," Waits joked to the crowd.
Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman and Specialty Records founder Art Rupe represented in the non-performance category this year.