I sitt tacktal riktade sig Tom Waits särskilt till hustrun Kathleen Brennan, som sedan i mitten av 80-talet har varit hans ständiga medarbetare och medkompositör:
Thanks, everybody, this is very encouraging. Songs are really just interesting things to do with the air.
I was fifteen when I snuck in to a club to see Lightning Hopkins. I wore an overcoat, put white-out in my hair, drew on a mustache and said in a deep voice, "One ticket please." I saw Lightning walk through a door in the back room that said, "Keep Out!! This Room for ENTERTAINERS ONLY.’"At the moment, I realized I wanted to get into show business as soon as possible.
I am grateful to my wife and my collaborator Kathleen Brennan. She is the light that helps me find my way and to my kids who have taught me everything I know.
Some day, I hope to hear, "Hey Mack, take the cuffs off him, I think he’s a Hall of Famer!"
I sitt introduktionstal beskrev Neil Young Tom Waits som: "a great performer, singer, actor, songwriter, magician, changeling and spiritual guy."
Senare på galan framförde Tom Waits Make It Rain, Rain Dogs, House Where Nobody Lives och Get Behind The Mule tillsammans med Los Lobos-gitarristen David Hidalgo, Marc Ribot, basisten Larry Taylor och sonen Casey Waits på trummor. I Get Behind The Mule gästades han på scenen av Neil Young.
– If Jackson Pollack could sing, he’d be Tom Waits, konstaterade Elton John efter framträdandet.
Claes Olson
