Everything that happened at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony

Mikael: Favorite moments, Vanessa? I dug Salt-N-Pepa’s performance — “Let’s Talk About Sex” really is an all-timer — and the moving speeches by the members of Soundgarden. Was also amused by how frequently various presenters had to ask people in the audience to sit down so they could read the prompter.

Vanessa: Is it just me or did everyone step up the performance game this year? Soundgarden’s performance of “Rusty Cage” is the only one that made me throw my hands up triumphantly in the air, but I also loved that show-closing all-star sing-off of “With a Little Help From My Friends.” And I’m still chuckling about Chubby Checker accepting the honor on video and going right back into his performance on the road. All in all, it was an entertaining evening. Let’s do it again in 2028!

Mikael: Bryan Adams is sharing Joe Cocker’s cocktail recipes. Big end-of-the-night vibes here.

Vanessa: Joe Cocker is the only person who could record a Beatles song and make it better than the Beatles. His version of “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window”? Epic. “With a Little Help From My Friends”? When I was a kid and it was the theme for “The Wonder Years” I thought the Beatles covered Cocker!

M.W.: Curious who Cocker’s booster was inside the Rock Hall to get him inducted this year...

V.F.: Honestly, I was shocked he wasn’t in long ago. He feels like one of those shoo-ins from the old regime.

M.W.: I agree. Wonder if there’s a story as to why he wasn’t already in.

V.F.: You know it’s getting closer to the end of the night when we’re about to go into Rock Hall conspiracy theory mode.

M.W.: Pour me one of Joe Cocker’s drinks, and let’s get it going.

V.F.: OK, but this might be the best musical performance of the night? Tedeschi, Trucks and Nathaniel Rateliff are killing this over of “The Letter.”

M.W.: And now here’s Teddy Swims wearing the jacket that everyone else looked at backstage and said, “Not me, pal.”

V.F.: He sounds amazing, though, even if the safety-pin plaid blazer doesn’t really match the vibe.

M.W.: He is a weirdly great singer for a guy in his position!

V.F.: Sure, there’s a big sing-along with Adams and Cyndi Lauper for “With a Little Help From My Friends” but all I keep thinking is that Chris Robinson is looking very “Southern Harmony and Musical Companion”-era Black Crowes and his vocals match. This is absolutely a compliment.

M.W.: It’s fun watching all these singers trying to outdo one another. Very “We Are the World.”

V.F.: Susan Tedeschi just wiped the floor with everyone else.

M.W.: And that’s a wrap!

V.F.: Still sad about the lack of “Werewolves of London” but it was fun to watch along with you, Mikael! Glad it didn’t actually hit the five-hour mark.

Vanessa: Yeah, yeah, “The Twist” was everywhere, but I really thought that the limbo would be a much larger part of my life because of Chubby Checker’s “Limbo Rock” — and “Saved by the Bell.”

Mikael: Chubby is accepting his award from what looks like a gig somewhere. The grind never ends.

V.F.: I love this. He didn’t miss a beat. He’s 84 and still twisting!

Vanessa: I saw Chappell Roan was wearing that elaborate chandelier on her head on the red carpet and figured she would ditch it for the show. I was wrong. But I do appreciate the human moment where she admitted that she screwed up by not getting contacts before straining to read the teleprompter.

Mikael: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was “more than a hit,” Chappell says. “The song became a global feminist anthem.”

V.F.: Ready for this video package to take me back to the height of MTV in the ‘80s.

Alicia Keys is right: “There’s never going to be another Cyndi Lauper, period.”

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M.W.: Did anyone make more effective use of the early MTV era than Cyndi Lauper? More than 40 years later, the image she created in that first run of videos is still indelible. And yet somehow she doesn’t seem trapped in the past. Quite a feat, really.

V.F.: It’s pretty powerful that Lauper performed “True Colors” in front of an LGBTQ+ flag backdrop. She’s a staunch supporter of the community, but it seems particularly poignant at this time in the U.S.

M.W.: Cyndi’s got the crowd here waving their cellphones in the air for “Time After Time,” which she’s doing with the English singer Raye.

V.F.: Absolutely here for Avril Lavigne joining Cyndi for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” This song is Pavlovian to me. I start bopping my head back and forth like the women in the original video.

M.W.: The definition of exuberance.

“See what happens when you let the riffraff in?” Cyndi asks to start her speech.

V.F.: What a great opening line.

M.W.: I spent some time with Cyndi a couple months back for a profile, and lemme tell you — the woman is a quote machine.

V.F.: It’s such a night of celebrating women. “My shoulders are broad enough to have the women that come after me stand on mine,” Cyndi says.

Mikael: The crowd inside the Peacock is on its feet for Elton John, who’s here to pay tribute to the late Brian Wilson.

Vanessa: “Meeting someone who is a true genius doesn’t happen very often,” Elton John on Brian Wilson, or as I like to think of it, genius on genius.

Is that Don Was on the upright bass back there?

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M.W.: Yup. Looks like Benmont Tench on organ as well.

Elton’s taking “God Only Knows” a little slow for my taste. But his voice is strong and soulful.

Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, the White Stripes, Chubby Checker and Soundgarden are among the acts being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night. The event is taking place at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Here’s a look at what the stars are wearing on the red carpet.

Cyndi Lauper and Brandi Carlile.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Vanessa: The Soundgarden superfan in my house (my husband) just sprinted in to watch this induction by... Jim Carrey? “When the Seattle music scene exploded, it resurrected rock ‘n’ roll for me,” Carrey said.

Mikael: Might be the fact that folks have been drinking for a couple hours now, but the audience is rowdier during this speech than it’s been all night.

V.F.: Nobody’s having a better time at this induction ceremony than Hiro Yamamoto, Soundgarden’s original bassist. Every time the camera pans to them he has the biggest grin.

M.W.: Audioslave! I totally forgot about Audioslave.

V.F.: You forgot because they were far inferior to Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine.

M.W.: Not sure about Carrey’s designation of “Black Hole Sun” as Soundgarden’s magnum opus. I’m an “Outshined” guy.

V.F.: Agreed. I am a “Badmotorfinger” girlie forever looking California and feeling Minnesota, but “Black Hole Sun” isn’t even the magnum opus of “Superunknown.” I mean, “The Day I Tried to Live” is on that album.

No lie, as soon as I heard that opening riff of “Rusty Cage” I threw my fists in the air and yelled “Yes!” (Like I said, I’m a “Badmotorfinger” girlie.) And Taylor Momsen is so good. I first heard her sing with them at the Chris Cornell tribute at the Forum in 2019 and I was blown away.

M.W.: Mike McCready with the old-school grunge-era guitar toss.

Brandi Carlile really does love Soundgarden (though she’s dressed like she’s in My Chemical Romance)

V.F.: MCR was also the first thing I thought of. Brandi joined the black parade!

You know I’m a big Brandi Carlile fan and I know she recorded “Black Hole Sun” with the surviving members for Record Store Day a few years back and it’s THE hit, but they have so many stronger songs.

M.W.: Hiro takes a moment to remember the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and cautions us against making the same type of mistake today.

V.F.: I was confused by Matt Cameron thanking Herb Alpert for a moment but then I remembered Soundgarden was on Alpert’s label A&M Records.

Kim Thayil thanked his dog. Love it.

M.W.: Bonus performance here by Chris Cornell’s daughter Toni, who’s singing “Fell on Black Days” with Heart’s Nancy Wilson on guitar.

Vanessa: What’s cooler than being cool? Donald Glover inducting Outkast.

Mikael: Addressing Big Boi and André 3000, Glover says, “there is no Childish Gambino without you” and credits the duo with turning Atlanta into a modern music mecca.

V.F.: Is it just me or was Glover’s speech very, “You all are great and we know you don’t like each other but please bury the hatchet even though you don’t see eye-to-eye”?

M.W.: I had the pleasure of talking to André a few months back about his out-there jazz album, and the impression I got was of a guy who’s very proud of his old work and who has zero desire to perform those songs any time soon.

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V.F.: In the video package, Big Boi says that Outkast was ahead of its time. So true, and I still don’t think the world has caught up.

M.W.: After Big Boi thanks a couple dozen folks by name, André tells him, “I’m so glad you had a list, because I didn’t prepare nothing.”

V.F.: André is owning that. He just warned us he’s going to do some stream-of-consciousness thank you’s now, naming various things in Atlanta. I think DeKalb County just got a shoutout.

M.W.: Doja Cat and Tyler, the Creator paying tribute tells you plenty about how crucial Outkast was to making space in rap for weirdos.

V.F.: Tyler, the Creator is absolutely the best choice to do “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad).”

M.W. Big Boi was born to rock this shorts-and-fur-coat look.

V.F.: Hey, the Atlanta Falcons T-shirt really ties the whole look together and is a nice visual nod to the city.

M.W.: As ambivalent as André might be about performing Outkast’s songs today, Big Boi seems to find real purpose in keeping the duo’s music alive onstage.

Vanessa: Mikael, are we watching the Rock Hall inductions or have we stumbled into a major sporting event? I didn’t have Iggy Pop leading everyone in a “Seven Nation Army” chant on my bingo card but I’m not mad about it.

Mikael: Iggy Pop is a fun choice to induct the White Stripes. Fellow Michiganders and all. Also love that he took off one pair of glasses and put on another to read his speech.

V.F.: I love that Iggy Pop recounts meeting Jack White at Coachella, of all places. White approached him for a photo and said, “I want to pick you up in my arms like you’re the dead Jesus,” Pop recalls. “I guess that made him the Virgin Mary.” It all seemed to be going well until White dropped him.

M.W.: Good observation from Iggy: that the White Stripes made a racket in a clear Detroit lineage but that it came from a place of love, not revolution.

V.F.: Jack White just called him “Uncle Iggy.” Iggy Pop is everyone’s weird rock ‘n’ roll uncle.

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M.W.: Jack White says he spoke to Meg White recently and that she said she was sorry not to be here but asked him to pass along her thanks.

V.F.: That was a sweet moment when a fan yelled out and Jack White said “Yes, we love Meg.”

M.W.: “My sister thanks you, and I thank you,” Jack White says to finish his speech — an admirable commitment to the bit that he and Meg (his ex-wife) is his sister.

V.F.: Look, I love “We’re Going to Be Friends” as much as the next person, but this is the White Stripes — the tribute needs to be plugged in and loud. That being said, Olivia Rodrigo and Feist did a lovely rendition.

M.W.: Well, Vanessa, here’s your plug-in: Twenty One Pilots — wearing weird windsocks on their heads? — doing “Seven Nation Army.” I’ve never really gotten this band’s whole deal, but this rendition has the right muscle for the song.

Mikael: David Letterman is here to induct his old pal Warren Zevon. “How can you not feel a little let down after Salt-N-Pepa?” he asks as he opens his speech.

Vanessa: TIL Warren Zevon studied under Igor Stravinsky?!?!

M.W.: Letterman is going through a list of Zevon songs and explaining to the audience what they’re about — which feels like a scene Zevon might’ve written a song about.

V.F.: Everyone “ah-wooo”-ing when Letterman mentions Zevon’s songs about werewolves made me laugh. I mentioned this when we were talking the other day, but I maintain that one of the funniest lyrics ever written is “I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic’s.” Cannot wait for the all-star “Werewolves of London” jam we better get tonight.

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M.W.: Jackson Browne makes a good point in the video package: You can say (correctly) that Zevon is a hugely influential figure, but you can’t really point to anyone who can do what he did.

V.F.: It’s really touching how Letterman is talking about his old friend. And I love that he brought the guitar that Zevon gave him 22 years ago, the last time they saw each other, and that it’s going to be part of the tribute with the Killers and Waddy Wachtel. Letterman definitely got me in my feels. What a beautiful tribute.

M.W.: Invite Waddy Wachtel to everything, is what I say.

V.F.: Seconded!

I love “Lawyers, Guns and Money” but did we really get robbed of “Werewolves of London”?

M.W.: Maybe they’ll circle back at the end of the night?

V.F.: Well, that’s probably more likely than Meg White showing up.

Mikael: Missy Elliott, who was inducted into the hall in 2023, is here to welcome in Salt-N-Pepa. “They made women like me feel heard and empowered,” she says.

Vanessa: I am feeling so empowered by Missy’s speech I could run through a wall! I have loved Salt-N-Pepa since elementary school. Just like Chili from TLC said, whenever I hear the opening of “Push It,” I am also doing the shoulder dance.

The group’s “Very Necessary” album is one of the essential albums of the 1990s. “Shoop,” “Whatta Man” with En Vogue? What a time to be alive and have MTV showing real music videos!

M.W.: Queen Latifah makes a great point in a video package: that Salt-N-Pepa made hip-hop success a “realistic dream” for the generation of women behind them.

V.F.: En Vogue showing up just made my night. They just showed Jennifer Hudson singing along in the crowd. I’m doing the same here on the couch.

M.W.: Lot of singing along in the theater, too. I’m old enough to remember when the Rock Hall letting rappers in was considered borderline-scandalous. But this crowd is with Salt-N-Pepa. Progress!

V.F.: Is there anyone doing the running man? I’m ready to bust out the running man.

M.W.: Love that Salt-N-Pepa are using their acceptance speech to point out that they’re involved in a battle over control of their master recordings.

V.F.: Fighting the man and also empowering women!

M.W.: Spinderella points out that she’s been DJing for 40 years — and that she’s the first female DJ to be inducted into Rock Hall.

Mikael: Mick Fleetwood is here to induct Bad Company, and he’s laying out how the rock supergroup came together with members of Free and King Crimson. He hails Paul Rodgers’ “once-in-a-lifetime voice,” which makes it too bad that Rodgers himself isn’t here tonight to accept the honor. He’s said he couldn’t make it as a result of some health issues.

Vanessa: It’s such a bummer because Rodgers is legit one of the most underrated vocalists in rock. Watching this video package, you forget how many bangers Bad Company has. My favorite jam is “Oh, Atlanta,” (different from the Little Feat track of the same name) — but “Shooting Star,” “Movin’ On,” “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love,” when they come on the radio I’m cranking it up.

M.W.: To play Bad Company’s tunes with drummer Simon Kirke, we’ve got Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, Heart’s Nancy Wilson and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry.

Oh, and now Bryan Adams is here to belt “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love.” I’m with you, Vanessa: a banger for sure.

V.F.: OK, where can I sign up for Bad Company karaoke night with Bryan Adams? He’s killing it.

M.W.: Bryan Adams is another underrated rocker, now that I think about it.

V.F.: I wholeheartedly agree.

M.W.: Can someone lift Simon Kirke’s microphone? “I’m feeling like the Hunchback of Notre Dame,” he says as he stoops over to accept Bad Company’s induction.

V.F.: Love that Simon Kirke is giving a shoutout to the Bad Company wives!

M.W.: “The Bad Company wives” is a great phrase.

V.F.: I’m glad we’re getting Paul Rodgers in video form at the very least — and even a short Little Richard tribute!

M.W.: It’s easy to goof on an institution like the Rock Hall, but I’ll admit that it can be pretty moving when you see how much the honor means to a musician. That seemed to be the case with Rodgers and Kirke.

Vanessa: Every awards show is better when Stevie Wonder is singing. Sly and the Family Stone’s “Dance to the Music” is a fine way to start off this tribute to Sly Stone, but I don’t know that Flea needed a little singing part. And is that Leon Thomas, who just racked up a ton of Grammy nominations, on the guitar there?

Mikael: I believe that is Leon, yep. Beck’s in there, too, and Questlove is on the drums.

V.F.: Do you think D’Angelo will get this much of a tribute tonight?

M.W.: Ooh, good question. What I do know is that Jennifer Hudson just came out and brought the house down. In all, that Sly tribute was a very strong start to the show. Bring on the rest of these five and a half hours!

Mikael Wood: Greetings from the Peacock Theater, where folks are starting to take their seats for tonight’s ceremony. I’m sitting in a row in the theater with a bunch of other reporters covering the induction, and we’re trading bets about how long the show will go. My hope is under four hours; my fear is ... more than five.

Vanessa Franko: Hi, Mikael, I hate to break it to you, but my Disney+ feed says it’s happening from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. I just made some more coffee. Do you get snacks or anything? And who are you excited to see?

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The best looks from the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony red carpet

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees and guests walked the red carpet at the induction ceremony at the Peacock Theater in L.A.

Nov. 8, 2025

M.W.: This is information I neither needed nor wanted, Vanessa. Alas, we shall endure! One thing I’m curious about is whether Meg White shows up as the White Stripes are inducted. She’s kept an extremely low profile since the White Stripes broke up, and I think most people have no expectation that she’ll be here tonight. But you never know!

V.F.: I am one of the people hoping she will be. I’m already bummed that Paul Rodgers isn’t well enough to perform tonight for Bad Company’s induction. Hopefully Chubby Checker can help fill that void in my heart.

M.W.: There are a fair number of empty seats in the theater, which has me wondering whether people know that you can buy tickets and come to the induction ceremony.

Chappell Roan arrives at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Peacock Theater.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

See more photos from the red carpet.

Nathaniel Rateliff arrives the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

See more photos from the red carpet.

Sad news for Bad Company fans.

Paul Rodgers, one of the original members of the English rock supergroup, announced Tuesday that he will miss the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday where Bad Company will be honored as part of the 2025 class.

Questlove attends the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Peacock Theater.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

See more photos from the red carpet.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced its billing for its 2025 induction ceremony. Among the names included are contemporary stars such as Doja Cat and Olivia Rodrigo, while also lending a retrospective lens to icons such as Elton John and Iggy Pop.

One name that sticks out is television personality David Letterman, who stepped down from late-night programming a decade ago.

Donald Glover attends the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

See more photos from the red carpet.

A cross-section of music superstars — Soundgarden, Outkast, Warren Zevon, the White Stripes, Cyndi Lauper, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Salt-N-Pepa, Bad Company and industry icon Lenny Waronker — will be inducted Saturday into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony to be held at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater.

Among the music stars who will take the stage to celebrate the inductees are Olivia Rodrigo, Elton John, Janelle Monae, En Vogue, Beck, Doja Cat, Brandi Carlile, Flea, Joe Perry, Questlove, Teddy Swims, Bryan Adams, Avril Lavigne, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, Donald Glover, Jerry Cantrell, Twenty One Pilots and Raye. Comedy veterans David Letterman and Jim Carrey also will participate in the event.

“Look at these guys,” Cyndi Lauper whispers discreetly as she nods toward a straitlaced couple strolling through the Sunset Marquis. “I wonder what they think of a rock ’n’ roll hotel.”

The 72-year-old pop icon is hanging out on a September afternoon in a leafy alcove at the clubby musician’s spot that’s been her go-to in Los Angeles since the early 1980s.

Shooter Jennings knew “Carmelita.” He knew “Lawyers, Guns and Money.” And of course he knew “Werewolves of London,” Warren Zevon’s 1978 rock hit about a “hairy-handed gent” on the prowl for “a big dish of beef chow mein.”

“It’s kind of the low-hanging fruit” of Zevon’s catalog, Jennings says of “Werewolves,” which after scraping the top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100 went on to reach new audiences in the late 2000s when Kid Rock borrowed its strutting groove for his song “All Summer Long.”

Rock on, Los Angeles.

This year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is back in L.A., and with legends like Elton John and Mick Fleetwood hitting the stage, Angelenos are in for a treat.

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Cyndi Lauper and Joe Cocker? The White Stripes and Chubby Checker? Those performers and more were announced Monday as the hall’s Class of 2025 by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, which will honor them at a ceremony in November.