George Michael Inducted into the Rock Hall by Andrew Ridgeley

George Michael started his career with his childhood best friend, Andrew Ridgeley, in Wham! It was incredibly poetic for the late pop icon to be inducted into the 2023 class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Ridgeley himself.

Ridgeley praised Michael's "sublime" voice. He said it " ... expressed both strength and vulnerability, qualities that resonate throughout his outstanding songwriting." He added, "It was the expression of his soul that made harmony with raw, unfettered emotion. It had the power to send one soaring with its joy and to make one weak with its pain."

Ridgeley noted, "George considered his talents in descending order as those of songwriter, producer and singer. However, whilst his songs and recordings brilliantly convey his visceral sense of the ecstasy and pain that life occasions, it was the breathtaking beauty in the way he delivered that sense that, in my opinion, was his greatest gift: His voice."

Ridgeley further noted, "We achieved as Wham! our burning boyhood ambition…Wham! was the realization of everything I had ever aspired to, and the realization for George that stretching before him along a gilded and infinite path lay his destiny."

Michael's family issued a statement saying, "George Michael Entertainment, the estate and George's family are deeply grateful to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and to everybody who voted to induct George Michael this year." They added, "It is a huge honor for one of the world's great artists, songwriters, and producers."

Michael was honored with a three-song set by three different artists. Miguel took on "Careless Whisper" and had E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons in tow for the song's iconic sax hook.

Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine then followed and performed "Faith."

Closing out the set was country superstar Carrie Underwood singing the ballad "One More Try."