Some of the biggest names in rock saluted The Who on July 12 during a taping for VH1's "Rock Honors" at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, but the biggest thrills were delivered by the honorees themselves. The event will air tonight on the cable music channel.

The Who, which now comprises lone surviving original members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, tore through classics like "You Better, You Bet" (which was stopped and then restarted due to sound issues), "Baba O'Riley," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Won't Get Fooled Again," "The Seeker," "Who Are You" and "My Generation."

Townshend and Daltrey's at times caustic relationship was evident during one exchange when Townshend said, "Thanks for giving us this night instead of a crappy piece of plastic," to which Daltrey answered, "I don't have any pieces of plastic!" Townshend's playful rejoinder: "You should try writing a song sometime."

Pearl Jam pulled off a stunning rendition of The Who's "Love, Reign O'er Me," which the band recorded for the 2007 Adam Sandler film "Reign Over Me." The group also debuted a cover of "The Real Me," with Jeff Ament's virtuous bass work echoing that of The Who's late John Entwistle.

Incubus offered straight-ahead versions of "I Can See for Miles" and "I Can't Explain," while the Flaming Lips delivered its trademark showmanship by having frontman Wayne Coyne float into the audience inside a clear plastic bubble.

The Foo Fighters began the proceedings with a nod to The Who's own cover of Mose Allison's "Young Man Blues," popularized on its "Live at the Isle of Wight" album.

Ex-Foreigner singer readies Christian CD

Former Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm has finished recording his first Christian rock album, which he hopes to release this fall.

Gramm, a born-again Christian since the early '90s, said the currently untitled album "rocks from one end to the next — that kind of attitude but with a different subject matter." He recorded it in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y., with his band, which includes brothers Ben and Richard and Don Mancuso from his pre-Foreigner band, Black Sheep.

Gramm, who left Foreigner for a second time in 2003, said his recovery from a benign brain tumor in the late '90s gave him the impetus for many of the album's faith-based songs. "It's about how you can be so out of line with the way God would have you be and maybe have a major incident in your life kind of wake you up," he explained. "I had my priorities not in order and I just think I'm looking at life in general a little bit differently."

Reaction to this direction from fans of Foreigner and his previous solo work has been "mixed," Gramm acknowledged. "I'm not sure what people think — that by doing a Christian rock album you suddenly become a completely different person or your creative self changes? It really just means that a lot of the subject matter changes; a lot more thought goes into the lyrics and not a ton of songs about (meeting) that girl after the show.

"But that doesn't mean I am a person who has no fun and no life; I definitely like to have fun. I just think I know quite a bit better where to draw the line now."

— Billboard