Prince performs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Reuters)

New York, March 16 (Reuters): Prince was crowned as musical royalty yesterday as he joined the late George Harrison among eight inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Also honoured at the 19th annual induction were Texas boogie-woogie blues group ZZ Top, singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, English rock-jazz fusion band Traffic, rocker Bob Seger, R & B vocal group The Dells and Jann Wenner, co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine.

Prince kicked off the star-studded festivities with a rousing performance of Let’s Go Crazy, Sign ‘’ The Times, and Kiss, that brought the formally dressed audience in the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to its feet.

He was introduced by Alicia Keys and OutKast. “There are many kings. King Henry the 8th, King Solomon, King Tut, King James, King Kong,” said Grammy Award-winner Keys. “But there is only one Prince.”

“When I first started out in this music industry, I was most concerned with freedom,” said Prince, whose 1984 Purple Rain sold 17 million copies. “I wish you all the best on this fascinating journey. It ain’t over.”

Harrison, who died of cancer in 2001 and was already enshrined as a member of the Beatles, became the third of the Fab Four to be inducted as a solo artist, following John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

After the breakup of the Beatles, Harrison showed his solo prowess with triple album All Things Must Pass, and demonstrated his humanitarian interests and talent as a producer by organising the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh.

He was presented by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, bandmates of his in the Traveling Wilburys, a super-group he helped form late in his career along with Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison.