With her induction into the annals of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night (October 19), Cher made sure to set expectations early: “This speech is going to be such a mess – I wrote it the other day, and then I rewritten tonight, and I’m dyslexic,” she declared.

It was no nonsense – during her presentation at the annual ceremony, Cher wowed the crowd at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse with renditions of ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ and ‘Believe’ – the latter with special guest Dua Lipa – before accepting the award gave up. stage to Zendaya, who introduced her idol with aplomb. “Where do I even start?” said the actress, wearing an outfit inspired by one of Cher’s many Bob Mackie looks. “There is not one person in this room, in this country, and indeed in this world, who does not know the name of the artist I am here to honor tonight. She is so iconic, she only needs one name.”

In a video tribute, stars appeared to pay tribute to Cher, including Cyndi Lauper, Shania Twain and P!nk, with the latter making it abundantly clear that the mononymous singer was a “f–king rockstar.”

But once into her speech, Cher made it clear that her induction was never guaranteed: “It was easier to divorce two men than to get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” she said. “I would like to thank my guardian David Geffen, because he wrote a letter and sent it to the directors, and now, ha ha, here I am!”

While the singer made sure to make fun of herself every now and then (“I’m a Good singer, not one Great singer,” she cracked), she hasn’t shied away from acknowledging her impact throughout her decades-long career. In one highlight, the star looked back on how her biggest songs almost didn’t happen.

“(With) ‘Believe’ I changed the sound of music forever, and it was an accident. My producer and I had an argument, where my producer said, ‘Cher, do better,'” she recalled. “I said, ‘Dude, if you want it better, get another singer.’ He called me later and said, ‘Cher, I’ve been playing with the pitch machine and I think I have something.’ I went back and listened to it, and when it was over, we both jumped up and high-fived each other. And then the head of my record company said, ‘We can’t do that because no one will know it was you.’ And I said, ‘Yes, that’s the deal! That’s the beauty of it!’”

Cher also recalled the advice her mother gave her from a young age that led her career to where it is today. “She said to me, ‘You may not be the prettiest, you may not be the smartest, you may not be the most talented, but you are special,’” she said. “She kept teaching me, ‘When you’re down and you’re gone, you get back up.’”

Smiling at the crowd, Cher made sure the women in the audience had heard her. “The one thing I’ve never done is I never give up. And I talk to the women, okay, you’re on your own,” she said with a grin. “We’ve been in trouble, but we keep striving, and we keep going and we’re somebody. We are special, as my mother would say.”

Cher was just one of the icons honored at Saturday night’s event — fellow inductees included Mary J. Blige, Ozzy Osbourne, Kool & the Gang, A Tribe Called Quest, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner and Peter Frampton.