Rappers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

05 April 2009 - Run-DMC have officially been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

The duo were honoured during a star-studded gala and Eminem gave the rap pioneers their award and telling them how their music changed his life as a boy growing up in Detroit.

Run-DMC broke down the barriers between rock and rap and helped push rap and hip hop into mainstream pop culture with hit albums like 1986's "Raising Hell."

That album featured the lead single "Walk This Way," a cover of the classic Aerosmith song of the same name. It fused rap and rock and appealed to fan’s of both genres.

Eminem explained how the group had inspired him:

"They broke away from the pack by being the pack," he said.

"They were the baddest of the bad and the coolest of the cool. Run-DMC changed my life. There's three of them and if you grew up with hip hop like I did, they were the Beatles.""They were the baddest of the bad and the coolest of the cool. Run-DMC changed my life."Eminem on Run DMC

The two remaining members of the group Joseph "DJ Run" Simmons and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels explained how their music grew and developed:

"We were young guys with a new music that people thought was a fad, but we knew the culture was a way of life and we just lived it," McDaniels said.

"The music that we made then didn't just impact friends, it impacted a generation. So I guess that's what rock and roll does."

Any chance of a Run reunion ended with Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell's death in 2002, when he was shot to death outside his studio. His murder remains unsolved.

Mizell's mother, Connie, accepted the award on his behalf.

"My baby is still doing it for me," she said.