Springsteen, Patti Smith, Dr. Dre and Flavor Flav Share Stage for “People Have the Power”

The 2026 American Music Honors concluded with a singular collaborative performance. Held at the Bruce Springsteen Archives in New Jersey, the ceremony saw Patti Smith lead a rendition of her anthem “People Have the Power,” joined by an unlikely assembly of fellow honorees.

On stage, Smith traded lines with Bruce Springsteen. Dr. Dre stood nearby, singing and shaking a tambourine beside singer-songwriter Steve Earle. Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav embraced participants throughout the song, his clock necklace swinging. The performance united figures from hip hop, rock, punk and folk, all drawn from the night’s list of honorees which also included The Doors, Dionne Warwick and The E Street Band.

The moment served as a visual summary of the event’s broad cultural scope. It placed Smith’s enduring call for collective action within a context far removed from its 1988 origins, framed by the shared recognition of diverse American musical legacies.