Dave Grohl performed with controversial comedian Dave Chappelle after getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with his band, Foo Fighters, on Saturday night.
A star-studded afterparty kicked off at around 1 a.m. at the Westin in Cleveland, Ohio, and in typical Chappelle fashion, the comic “told everyone to put phones away and enjoy the moment,” a spy told Page Six.
Ohio native Chappelle showed off his vocals, singing tunes by the Isley Brothers. He and Grohl also performed Radiohead’s “Creep,” as they did when the Foo Fighters reopened Madison Square Garden in July.
“Chappelle was singing verses and getting crowd to sing along [and] Gary Clark Jr. killed it on the guitar,” the source said.
The rock star’s offspring also got in on the act, with Grohl’s daughter, Violet, joining him onstage to perform while he drummed. The Go-Go’s Charlotte Caffey’s daughter, Astrid, also got on the mic.
Paul McCartney, who helped induct Grohl and Foo Fighters at the ceremony, attended “on the early side,” and the party was still going at around 4:45 a.m., we’re told.
The ceremony was held earlier in the evening at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland after being forced to go virtual last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Drew Barrymore was spotted hugging some of the Foo Fighters backstage after she presented inductees The Go-Go’s with their award.
“One of the photographers was showing her pictures he took of her on stage, and she said, ‘I love these! You have to send me these. And send me pics of Jay-Z too,'” another insider shared.
Former President Barack Obama helped induct Jay-Z with a video message.
A third source described the moment as “pure joy celebration of culture.” The rap legend’s superstar wife, Beyoncé, was noticeably absent. A production insider told us, “no one knows” about her whereabouts — and her rep did not get back to us when we reached out for comment.
Other inductees included Tina Turner, Carole King, LL Cool J, Todd Rundgren, Kraftwerk, Clarence Avant, Randy Roads, Billy Preston, Charley Patton and Gil Scott-Heron.
Jennifer Lopez was also seen backstage “casually walking around and eating snacks” after performing with LL Cool J, according to the second source. Taylor Swift moved the crowd to tears singing “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” when she honored King.
“Thank you for carrying the torch forward. You’re like my professional granddaughter,” King said during her speech.
The ceremony will air on HBO on Nov. 20.
Chappelle has been embroiled in a controversy over his latest Netflix comedy special “The Closer” and jokes about the trans community. Some Netflix transgender employees had staged a walkout.
Chappelle recently revealed that the backlash has resulted in distributors staying away from an indie documentary film he made, which he’s going to release himself.
He also said during one recent performance: “It’s been said in the press that I was invited to speak to the transgender employees of Netflix and I refused. That is not true — if they had invited me I would have accepted it, although I am confused about what we would be speaking about.” He added, “I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not? You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. It seems like I’m the only one that can’t go to the office anymore.”
