Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Cyndi Lauper, Joe Cocker, Outkast, Salt-N-Pepa, Soundgarden, The White Stripes, Warren Zevon and several other musical acts have officially been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The 2025 class was celebrated at the 40th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles Saturday night. The star-studded event brought musical talents spanning several generations to celebrate the inductees.
The evening kicked off with a tribute to the late Sly Stone featuring Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Questlove, Leon Thomas, Beck, Maxwell and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Later in the evening, Elton John led a tribute to the late Beach Boys member Brian Wilson, and the ceremony showed a video tribute to Ozzy Osbourne.
Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Cyndi Lauper, Joe Cocker, Outkast, Soundgarden and The White Stripes made up the performer category of inductees for the night, while Salt-N-Pepa and Warren Zevon were honored with the musical influence award. With the exception of Checker, who was inducted through a video tribute from a live show, all artists had a dedicated performance section filled with the top musical artists of today and years past.
Caroly Kaye, Nicky Hopkins and Thom Bell were honored with the musical excellence award. Producer and longtime Warner Records Lenny Waronker was the evening’s Ahmet Ertegun award recipient.
Jack White took the stage to accept the honor on behalf of the iconic rock duo, The White Stripes. Meg White, who has kept out of the spotlight since the group’s last performance in 2009, was not in attendance but Jack White passed along the drummer’s love and gratitude to the audience. “She helped me write all of this,” he told the crowd of his bandmate. “I sent these things to her and she checked it for me — a lot of punctuation corrections too. She’s really good at them.”
White did not participate in the group’s tribute performance. Olivia Rodrigo and Feist performed the duo’s song, “We’re Going to Be Friends.” Meanwhile, rock duo Twenty One Pilots covered the group’s iconic track, “Seven Nation Army.”
Outkast, comprising members André 3000 and Big Boi, were inducted by Donald Glover and brought nearly all of their collaborators and confidants in attendance on stage to celebrate the honor. André 3000 got emotional at one point when recounting what fellow honoree White said about “little rooms,” the artist fighting back tears. “Great things start in little rooms. We started in a little room,” he said in a nod back to the group’s early days in the “Dungeon,” where the duo got its start.
The Atlanta hip hop duo also attracted an all-star group of musicians to the stage to perform their tribute. Big Boi (André 3000 did not take part in the performance) was joined by Doja Cat, Tyler, the Creator, Janelle Monáe, J.I.D, Killer Mike and Sleepy Brown to perform the group’s biggest hits, including “Ms. Jackson,” “Hey Ya,” “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” and more.
Jim Carrey inducted Soundgarden, bringing out the late Chris Cornell’s eldest daughter, Lily Cornell Silver, to speak about her father and introduce a performance by his former Soundgarden bandmates, including original member Hiro Yamamoto, with Taylor Momsen and Brandi Carlisle singing vocals. Cornell’s youngest daughter, Toni Cornell, also performed a rendition of “Fell on Black Days.”
Yamamoto, a founding member of the group alongside Cornell and Kim Thayil before he departed in 1989, didn’t shy away from bringing up the current state of the world. “Thanks to my parents, whose story is [of] American citizens who were rounded up and placed into prison camps just for being Japanese during World War II,” he told the crowd. “That affected my life greatly, and it really echoes strongly today. Let’s not add another story like this to our history.”
In perhaps the most fitting pairing of the night, Chappell Roan inducted Lauper into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, taking the stage in an extravagant outfit fitting for a Lauper tribute. The “Pink Pony Club” singer got some of the biggest laughs of the night when she admitted she wasn’t wearing contacts and clearly couldn’t see the Teleprompter well.
Roan didn’t participate in the musical tribute; however, Lauper came out to perform her hit, “True Colors,” which became an anthem in the LGBTQ community — the inductee even displayed an inclusive pride flag, stopping the song to highlight the message. Lauper was later joined by British singer Raye to sing her classic, “Time After Time,” and pop-rocker Avril Lavigne and fellow inductee Salt-N-Peppa for “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
In her speech, Lauper noted the contributions of the women who came before her that made it possible to be the musician she is today. “My shoulders are broad enough to have the women who come after me stand on mine,” she continued, at one point looking to a nearby Roan, who looked emotional.
“The other thing that I thought was really important, which is why I really came here tonight, is to tell you that the little kid in me still believe that rock and roll can save the world,” Lauper told the crowd, met with applause. “I just want to say, now, of all times, let’s come together again and do good in the world because it needs us.”
David Letterman and Missy Elliot made appearances, inducting Zevon, Soundgarden and Salt-N-Pepa, respectively. Letterman even brought out the guitar that Zevon gave to him before he passed to be used during the tribute performance.
Following an energetic performance of some of the hip hop trio’s greatest hits, Cheryl James, known by her stage name Salt, told the crowd that the women were currently in a battle for ownership of their music. “When we came up, the industry was different. We didn’t have streaming, we didn’t have social media; we had cassette tapes, turntables and dreams. We had to fight to be heard and to prove our worth,” she said.
“We’re in a fight right now for our masters that rightfully belong to us. As we celebrate this moment, fans can’t even stream our music. It’s been taken down from all streaming platforms because the industry still doesn’t want to play fair,” James continued, met with boos from the crowd. “Hip hop gave us a voice, and we’ll keep using it.”
