"Being of my generation," Donald Fagen of Steely Dan told Monday night's crowd at the 16th annual induction ceremony of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, "I'm naturally really suspicious of the commercial nature of the organizations giving these awards. But it's a nice ceremony." Among the other honorees who showed up at the black-tie banquet at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel's grand ballroom were Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Paul Simon, soul singer Solomon Burke, surviving members of the doo-wop group the Flamingos and Queen. Simon, who was inducted as a solo artist (he had previously been inducted as one half of Simon & Garfunkel), thanked his ex-partner, Art Garfunkel. "I regret the ending of our friendship, and I hope that one day before we die that we'll make peace with each other." He then paused before saying, "No rush." As the laughter in the room continued, Simon did add, "Just joking." Rolling Stone Keith Richards, who reportedly was responsible for the induction of pianist Johnnie Johnson (a onetime collaborator of Chuck Berry's), appeared ill at ease came time for him to present Johnson to the crowd. Richards told PEOPLE that he had attempted to write a speech, but then just decided to go with the flow. "I started writing things down last night," the Rolling Stone said. "But then I thought, 'Oh hell, I'll just wing it. It's only rock 'n' roll.' "