In accepting Depeche Mode's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, frontman Dave Gahan considered it an honor to be forever linked with those who influenced him.

Gahan appeared with bandmates Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher as part of the virtual ceremony broadcast on HBO and HBO Max. "There’s so many other musicians and artists that are a part of this that we have grown up listening to," he said. "Davie Bowie, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, the Clash, just to name a few."

The singer also thanked founding member Vince Clarke, who left after their first album, and his replacement Alan Wilder, who quit in 1995. He called them "part of the DM family and DM history and, of course, the success of the band" before turning his attention to the two men with whom he founded the band "And of course I want to thank Martin and Fletch while I’ve got the opportunity, because I don’t know what the hell I would have been doing if I didn’t find music, to be quite honest."

"You’d have been still stealing cars, Dave," Fletcher quipped.

Depeche Mode were inducted by actress Charlize Theron, who called the band the "soundtrack of my life." She also praised the way they "celebrate the outsider. Their music brings people together from all different walks of life, makes them feel like it’s okay to be different." Gahan echoed those sentiments, noting that they were simply paying forward their influences.

"Growing up listening to music on the radio and having music, it really kind of helped us to feel normal, to feel a part of something," he said. "And that’s what music does for people, and that’s what I think Depeche Mode has done for many people. I think music really brings people together, and God knows we need that more today than it seems any other time."

Gahan concluded by thanking the band's families and numerous industry people who contributed to their success, including “all of the promoters across the world that took a chance on a bunch of outsider, eyeliner-wearing weirdos from Essex. And all of the wankers that didn’t."