Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: A Photo Gallery and Our Favorite Quotes From a Night Feting Soundgarden, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Salt-N-Pepa, White Stripes and More

Jason Sargent Monday, November 10, 2025

- - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: A Photo Gallery and Our Favorite Quotes From a Night Feting Soundgarden, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Salt-N-Pepa, White Stripes and More

Chris WillmanNovember 10, 2025 at 3:34 AM

The 40th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony lasted for about five nonstop hours Saturday, at least for those watching live at L.A.’s Peacock Theatre or as a stream on Disney+. The show will be less than half that length by the time viewers get their crack at seeing it, or a condensed version of it, on New Year’s Day as an ABC special. But when it’s worthy artists like Cyndi Lauper, the White Stripes, Outkast, Soundgarden, Salt-N-Pepa, Warren Zevon, Bad Company and Joe Cocker being celebrated — probably the closest thing to a universally agreeable crop in years — the word “excess” just naturally seems like it should be preceded by the word “blessed.”

Here, in photographs and words, are some of the memorable looks and quotes associated with this year’s performances, speeches and backstage chats.

More from Variety

Chappell Roan Lauds Cyndi Lauper at Rock Hall Induction for 'Showing Us You Can Be Bold, Quirky, Loud, Glamorous and Have Any Hair Color You Want'

David Letterman Offers a Full Sandwich of a Speech Inducting Warren Zevon Into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Jack White Passes Along Meg White's Regards as White Stripes Are Inducted Into Rock Hall, Shares Touching Parable About Duo's Origins

There seems to be a pattern here. When the surviving members of Nirvana get back together for a semi-reunion (as they did at FireAid earlier in 2025), they only employ female singers as fill-ins for the late Kurt Cobain. Soundgarden: same thing. It makes some sense, getting away from someone who might invite comparisons too close to Chris Cornell and settling on the female voice instead. Taylor Momsen brought growly grit to “Rusty Cage,” followed by the band’s fellow Seattle native Brandi Carlile breaking through to the heavens with “Black Hole Sun” (with Momsen returning to the stage to sing the rock anthem’s famous closing backing vocals). As dessert, Cornell’s 21-year-old daughter Toni Cornell sang “Fell on Black Days,” accompanied by a cellist and Heart’s Nancy Wilson on acoustic guitar.

Jim Carrey handled the induction duties. “You may ask why oh why Soundgarden, the heaviest of rock and roll royalty. (has) Jim Carrey to induct them into the Hall of Fame. Is there some deep cosmic connection between them, or was the Spoonman not available? Well, the truth is, I grew up with the awe-inspiring bands of the hard rock era. Every day I spent hours in the corner of a basement playing power chords on a goalie stick.” When he finally got to see and meet Soundgarden, “I stood right in front of them, letting the waves of electricity wash over me, like an audio baptism. They pushed me under and when I came up, I was free. After the show, they handed me what is to this day one of my most prized possessions, a Defender Telecaster Chris played on the show, signed by the whole band.” He described Cornell, whom he met on a few occasions, as “always really sincere, very down to earth, thoughtful, funny,” saying that “for all time, his voice will continue to light up the ether like a Tesla coil.”

(Soundgarden members were not the only old cohorts Carey was meeting up with; he was reuniting for the first time in 25 years with his “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” costar, Momsen, under extremely different creative circumstances.)

The night was light on political talk, but founding bassist Hiro Yamamoto did take the occasion to say what was on his mind about current events. He said that hearing “my parents’ stories of American citizens who were rounded up and placed in prison camps just for being Japanese during World War II, that affected my life greatly, and it really echoes strongly today. … C’mon, we can do a lot better than this. Let’s not add another story like this to our history.” But he urged communication, not enmity: “Let’s keep the dialogue alive because dialogue’s what we need.”

Said 21-year-old Toni Cornell backstage after singing “Fell on Black Days,” “It’s so surreal and I’m so honored I get to be here and do this for my dad. At the end of the day i just wish he could have been here to see this honor for himself. He’s he reason I do what I do. … I was really little and I remember going to my dad’s Songbook tour, which I think was his first acoustic tour… I was always really touched by just him and his voice and his guitar, and then eventually he did it with a cellist. And I just really love that arrangement. Everyone can relate to that song on so many levels. I fell on black days. We’ve all been there. So I personally related to that and I really wanted to channel how my dad would’ve performed that song on his own.”

SALT-N-PEPA

“Let me put my glasses on here,” said Cheryl “Salt” James — not the first time those words have been spoken at a Hall of Fame ceremony. But once she was properly sighted, she got into why she thinks the hip-hop act has been slighted, getting into their legal battle with Universal Music and reiterating that their music is unable to be streamed right now because of the dispute.

“This is for every woman who picked up a mic and they told her she couldn’t, every sister who had to fight twice is hard to be heard. But every artist has had to learn that ownership is the real freedom. 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. But even back then, we had to fight to be heard and to prove our word. We’re in a fight right now (over music) that rightfully belongs to us after 40 years 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. Salt-N-Pepa has never been afraid of a fight. This is the influence award. We have to keep using our influence until the industry honors creativity, the way the audience does with love, respect, and fairness. And that includes streaming platforms too.”

James took a lighter approach in saying “thank you to the fans, the DJs, the women who rhymed in their mirrors, and the mighty good men who supported us. I want to apologize to the countless fans who got in trouble for cutting their hair like us and singing our lyrics. To all the guys who had a crush on us and had our posters on the wall: You’re welcome.”

Sandra “Pepa” Denton also got some words in, as did their longtime DJ Spinderella, aka Deidra Roper, who said, “I will be celebrating 40 years as a DJ next year. How crazy is that? When I started it was weird thing to see a woman on a turntable. It was literally a boy’ club… Tonight, being the first female DJ inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame, for every woman who touched a turntable and said ‘I could do that too,’ this is for you.”

And then there was one… who was able to make it to the ceremony. Guitarist Mick Ralphs died earlier this year, and while singer Paul Rodgers was expected to come and perform, he bowed out last week due to health concerns, leaving drummer Simon Kirke as the sole representative. Kirke was happy to get a drummer-to-drummer handoff from Mick Fleetwood near the beginning of the show, and then perform with a band that had the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson handling lead vocals on “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and Bryan Adams singing “Can’t Get Enough,” with Joe Perry and Nancy Wilson joining in on guitars.

“I’ve never played ‘Can’t Get Enough’ in a tuxedo before, you’ll have to forgive me,” Kirke quipped at the beginning of his speech.

Kirke talked about how far this stage seemed from his childhood prospects. “I was 14 years old sitting in my classroom overlooking Middlesboro, my hometown, and I could see beyond the town, to the steel works, the chemical factory with the shipyard. My teacher, Mr. Garrity, said, ‘OK, class, take a good look out there. That’s where you’ll be going when you graduate.’ That night I went to a dance and I heard a record by Little Richard, and a box of fireworks went off in my head, rockets and all. I thought to myself, ‘I’m gonna follow that music and find out all about it.’ That’s what I did. Now I found myself being inducted into the brotherhood and sisterhood of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

Backstage, Kirke talked about the notable absences from the original Bad Co. lineup, saying there were “mixed emotions. You know, when death takes a friend, it never really dies, it never really fades away. And I’m just glad that Mick was able to hear that we were inducted before he passed away. I believe (Ralphs’ passing) was two weeks after he got the news… Paul called him and said, ‘Hey mate, we got in. We got in.’ Mick said, ‘Does that mean we get free hot dogs?’ I guess it was the morphine talking. But he went out with a smile. I miss him very much. And it was hard holding it together out there.”

With Rodgers, “What happened was, as you all know, he’s had health problems for quite a while, and it’s not so much the singing or the rehearsals. It was the traveling and the flying. I don’t want to speak out of turn, but flying was a big problem for him, just to be on the safe side. So he called me last week and said, ‘Hey man, so sorry…’ But he called Bryan Adams, who was great tonight, an absolute marvel, and the Hall of Fame contacted Chris Robinson, so we got two great substitutes. I do wish he had been here, but I totally understand, and in fact,” he noted, looking for a silver lining, “we’ve got more publicity from him not coming.”

As legendary duos go, the Hall had better luck with getting full attendance with Outkast than with the White Stripes. Even then, of the two, only Big Boi chose to perform, while André 3000 looked on — but few fans could realistically claim there was a great disruption of chemistry in that, since the two had spent most of the time they were together acting almost as conjoined solo acts. (Still, it seemed like a missed opportunity for a flute solo to be added to “The Way You Move.”)

The Outkast performance salute packed in more songs per square homage than that for any other act of the night. Big Boi was joined by JID on “ATLiens,” Doja Cat on “Ms. Jackson,” Tyler, the Creator on “B.O.B.,” Janelle Monae seeming to be playing a spunky — if not downright bratty — teenager on Andre’s rocking”Hey Ya,” Sleepy Brown on “The Way You Move” and Killer Mike on “The Whole World.” If this Hall of Fame ceremony sometimes seemed like it was more suited to be a limited series than a special, Outkast’s segment could practically have been stretched out to two all-star episodes all by itself.

Speaking to his former drummer’s absence, White said: “I spoke with Meg White the other day, and she said that she’s very sorry she couldn’t make it here tonight, but she wanted me to tell you that she’s very grateful. And to all of the folks who supported her in all the years, it really means a lot to her. She also helped me write all this… I sent these things to her. She checked it for me for a lot of punctuation and corrections. She’s pretty good at that.”

He continued by sharing a random thought of Meg’s: “She said, ‘Do you remember, Jack? We used to walk around and animals, for some reason, would stare at us. They would stop and stare at us for some reason. Even at the Detroit Zoo, an elephant did the exact same thing one time.’ She just wanted me to tell you that,” he explained, to crowd laughter.

White read off a litany of musicians he wanted to thank as influences, including such varied names as Loretta Lynn, Fugazi, the Misfits, Jethro Tull, the Troggs, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Arthur Lee and Love, the Flat Duo Jets, Dick Dale, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, the Sonics, Pavement, Black Flag, Sleater-Kinney, the Breeders, the Cramps, Merle Haggard, the Hives, Them, the Damned, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Minor Threat and Captain Beefheart.

In the video tribute that the Rock Hall put together for the duo, Olivia Rodrigo offered a younger generation’s appreciation of the pair — and the highest possible veneration for “Seven Nation Army” in particular: “Do you hear those seven notes? There’s no question what it is. ‘Seven Nation Army’ is the most iconic song of all time — it’s just so ingrained into who we are as humans.”

And then she and Feist sang a lovely duet of one of the White Stripes’ gentlest songs, “We Are Going to Be Friends,” followed by Twenty One Pilots doing the more ferociously classic “Seven Nation Army.” There was some controversy among WS fans about Pilots getting the pick, although it was easy to see where the Hall drew the connection, in choosing one of the few famous two-person outfits in rock. Tyler Joseph played White’s bass-sounding riff on an actual bass, then switched to keyboards briefly, taking the mask off his face and looking plaintively into an overhead camera as he took the song into a nearly balladic version for one verse.

“Cyndi embodies every quality of an artist that I admire,” Chappell Roan said in her much-anticipated induction speech bringing Lauper into the Hall. “She’s a born performer and a revolutionary songwriter, a forever fashion icon, and a fierce advocate and ally. And from the very beginning, she owned every ounce of who she was — the manic, panicked hair, all of those rad Fingerless gloves and those unbelievably layered, dynamic and one-of-a-kind vocals… Can I hear a little commotion for the vocals?”

Roan looked back to Lauper’s impact at the very start of her nascent career: “One of Cyndi’s most inspiring songs to me personally is ‘True Colors.’ When I was 14 years old, I performed ‘True Colors’ at a talent show in my hometown in Missouri. That was my first time ever winning a competition for singing, and that has been so important to me ever since. ‘True Colors’ has gone on to be an anthem synonymous with love and acceptance in the LGBTQ+ community and beyond — a message that still stands the test of time.”

Lauper was as truly colorful as ever in that particular regard when she sang “True Colors” as part of a multi-artist performance segment in her honor, pausing the song as a vertical rainbow/pride flag unfurled from the top of the stage behind her, in a striking and pointed camera angle.

In her acceptance speech, Lauper thanked “my badass female band I always dreamed of having” — which, for this occasion, included guest drummer Gina Schock of the Go-Go’s — and then positioned herself as part of a middle generation in the history of women in rock.

“So now to make a long story short…” she quipped. “Oops, too late for that. But I just want to say that I know that I stand on the shoulders of the women in the industry that came before me, and my shoulders are broad enough to have the women that come after me stand on mine. And 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 believes that rock ‘n’ roll can save the world.”

She noted that, when she uses the R&R term for herself, she is thinking in terms of the same big tent that the Hall itself has used for years in bringing in acts from different genres under that attitudinal umbrella.

“Rock ‘n’ roll is a big, wonderful quilt of a lot of different styles of music. Thank goodness,” she said. “And all of that music has influenced me and my work, and without it, I don’t know what kind of music I’d be making. So I just want to say, now of all times, let’s come together again and do good in the world because it needs us…

“You know, I always was part of the rock ‘n’ roll community anyway. You just didn’t wanna talk to me because, you know, they thought I was a little crazy. I don’t know why. Anyway, all kidding aside, I love you. Thank you very much to the Rock Hall of Fame. I’m so happy you’re bringing women back in. There are a lot of us. And long live rock ‘n’ roll.”

After singing a solo rendition of “True Colors” that climaxed with the vertical unrolling of a rainbow pride banner, Lauper was matched powerfully with one of today’s most promising rising stars, Raye, on “Time After Time,” then joined by Avril Lavigne (and eventually Salt-N-Pepa) for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

Handling the induction speech, David Letterman told the story of having Zevon on his program shortly after the rocker was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given only months to live. It was there that Zevon issued his famous “Enjoy every sandwich” advice, and Letterman spoke of following the singer-songwriter to his dressing room. Then, he said, Zevon handed him the electric guitar he had used in his many appearances on the show, saying, “Take care of this for me.” “I know what’s supposed to happen now,” Letterman said, “and sure as hell, it did happen. I started to sob uncontrollably.”

Letterman stood beside the guitar in question and said, “For 22 years, I have taken care of the guitar. … By God, tonight it’s going back to work.” To Dave Keuning, lead guitarist of the Killers, he said, “It’s all yours, sir.” And at that point, it was left to the Killers — with special guest Waddy Wachtel, who played guitar on most of Zevon’s most famous records — to close the tribute out with their version of one of the honoree’s signature songs, “Lawyers, Guns and Money.”

It was only a one-song tribute, and his most famous song, “Werewolves of London,” did not factor into it — save for a couple of “Ah-oooh!” phrasings that Brandon Flowers worked in near the end of “Lawyers” as a semi-subtle interpolation.

Letterman referred back to the catchphrase that Zevon introduced in his final appearance on his show. ““The thing about ‘Enjoy every sandwich’ — you know that that’s easy, but it’s deeply meaningful. And there’s not a person in this room who hasn’t considered that, but nobody can hang on to that on a daily basis. But by God, isn’t that true of life around the planet? Enjoy every sandwich.”

Chubby Checker chose to do a show rather than attend the Hall ceremony, but he did appear in video from the stage of his concert, holding the trophy that had been sent out to him for the occasion and saying “how happy I am and that I’m around to enjoy it.” He then broke out into a too-quickly-cut-away Twist, the revolutionary solo dance he popularized.

Two segments during the show paid tribute to recently departed Hall of Fames. The show began with a raucous Sly & the Family Stone tribute that had Stevie Wonder joined by Maxwell, Jennifer Hudson, new Grammy nominee Leon Thomas, Flea and Beck on “Dance to the Music,” “Everyday People,” “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)” and “Higher.” Sly Stone died June 9.

Elton John appeared toward the end of the night, singing the haunting “God Only Knows” in tribute to Brian Wilson, who passed away June 11.

The Tedeschi Trucks Band provided plenty of cover for the late Joe Cocker at the climax, joined by Nathaniel Rateliff on “The Letter,” Teddy Swims on “Feelin’ Alright?” and a veritable cast of thousands on “With a Little Help From My Friends” — Lauper, Rateliff, Robinson, Swims and Thomas. As the song asks: Do we need anybody? And as it answered, in true Cocker fashion: Owwwwwww, yes.

Here are some other photographic moments from the red carpet and backstage: