The Best Moments From the 2025 Rock Hall of Fame Induction

On Saturday night time in Los Angeles, the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame welcomed its 2025 class of inductees.

This 12 months’s lineup included Unhealthy Firm, Soundgarden, Cyndi Lauper, the White Stripes, Warren Zevon, Chubby Checker and Joe Cocker. A few of these folks, after all, are now not with us, however their careers and recollections lived on by way of fellow artists and their buddies.

The ceremony was streamed reside on Disney+, however for these of you that missed it, a primetime particular will air on ABC on Jan. 1, adopted by it being obtainable on Hulu the subsequent day.

Within the meantime, we have rounded up 10 of the very best and most shifting moments from the present — no matter you would possibly consider this 12 months’s inductees, these have been fairly particular to see.

1. An All-Star Tribute to Sly Stone

In June, Sly Stone handed away at 82 years previous, however on Saturday, his spirit crammed the room when Stevie Marvel led a bunch of incredible musicians by way of a few of Stone’s largest hits. Marvel was joined by Roots drummer Questlove, Flea of Pink Sizzling Chili Peppers, Beck, Jennifer Hudson, Leon Thomas III and others. It was an ideal method to begin the present, getting the viewers warmed up and on their ft.

2. David Letterman’s Touching Induction Speech for Warren Zevon

Might all of us have a buddy like David Letterman was and nonetheless, in some ways, is to Warren Zevon. Letterman even introduced alongside the very guitar that Zevon had given him previous to his 2003 passing. “You recognize, in music, many faux, however Warren is a poet leaving few of life’s vagaries unaddressed,” Letterman stated in his induction speech. “Warren’s music is dense with historic phantasm, love and unhappiness, tinted with sudden whimsy. Delivered with third-rail voltage rock ‘n’ roll, or candy, heartbreaking, lush, symphonic melodies, both model of the person’s music is basic. … Warren Zevon is in my Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame, truly his personal wing.”

3. Salt-N-Pepa’s Electrifying Efficiency and Push for Regaining Their Masters

If there was one efficiency from Saturday’s present that acquired the whole viewers dancing alongside, it was Salt-N-Pepa’s. However maybe much more spectacular was what the ladies of Salt-N-Pepa emphasised of their acceptance speech. Earlier this 12 months, the group sued Common Music Group for the correct to their grasp recordings.

“As we have fun this second, followers cannot even stream our music,” Cheryl “Salt” James stated (through Rolling Stone). “It has been taken down from all streaming platforms as a result of the business nonetheless does not need to play honest. Salt-N-Pepa have by no means been afraid of a struggle. That is the Affect Award. Now we have to maintain utilizing our affect till the business honors creativity the best way the viewers does — with love, respect and equity — and that features streaming platforms too.”

4. Toni Cornell’s Transferring Soundgarden Cowl (Plus, Ladies Sing Soundgarden)

A number of of the late Chris Cornell’s youngsters have been in attendance on Saturday night time, supporting Soundgarden’s induction. One significantly particular second got here within the type of Cornell’s daughter, Toni, masking “Fell on Black Days,” backed by Nancy Wilson on guitar.

And never for nothing, some wonderful selections have been made by whoever determined to have the Soundgarden section sung by solely ladies. Taylor Momsen sang “Rusty Cage,” whereas Brandi Carlile dealt with “Black Gap Solar.”

5. Jim Carrey and Taylor Momsen Reunite 

Talking of Momsen, here is a beautiful little second that truly does not contain rock ‘n’ roll in any respect. A few years in the past, when Momsen was seven years previous and a toddler actress, she performed Cindy Lou Who within the 2000 movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas, additionally starring Jim Carrey. At this 12 months’s ceremony, Momsen carried out and Carrey supplied the induction speech for Soundgarden. When the 2 met up backstage, it marked the primary time they’d seen each other since making Grinch.

“As a youngster watching an artist at work and taking their craft so critically, that left a very highly effective, lasting impression on me as an grownup now,” Momsen stated (through Folks). “And I am excited to have the ability to inform him that as a grownup.”

READ MORE: 2025 Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame Induction Ceremony: Picture Gallery

6. Jack White’s Poem for Meg White

Because the White Stripes break up up in 2011, Meg White has saved a really low profile, so it was not a shock that she didn’t attend the band’s induction. However her former bandmate and husband Jack White was there to just accept the award, and he took a second throughout his acceptance speech to learn an attractive poem he’d written particularly for her:

“One time, a woman climbed a tree, and in that tree was a boy — her brother, she thought. … Lots of the blocks they traveled have been empty, however some had folks. And a few of these folks cheered, some laughed and a few even threw stones. And with their naked fingers, the 2 began to clap and sing and make up songs.

And a few folks saved watching and swaying and shifting. After which one particular person even smiled. The boy and the woman checked out one another, and so they additionally smiled, and so they felt — they each felt — the sin of delight. However they saved on smiling. Smiling from a brand new freedom, figuring out that they’d shared and made one other particular person really feel one thing.”

7. 21 Pilots Do ‘Seven Nation Military’ Justice

Jack white himself didn’t carry out on the ceremony, however 21 Pilots – appropriately as a duo — provided up a fantastic model of “Seven Nation Military.”

8. Chappell Roan’s Unimaginable Outfit Homage to Cyndi Lauper

This 12 months, Cyndi Lauper was inducted by pop star Chappell Roan, who described Lauper as somebody who “embodies each high quality of an artist that I love.” In Lauper’s honor, Roan wore a newspaper costume and an unlimited crystal headpiece like the sort Lauper wore within the “True Colours” music video all these years in the past.

9.  Cyndi Lauper Performs With an All-Feminine Band

Lauper’s “Women Simply Need to Have Enjoyable” was much more enjoyable when you think about that each single particular person performing it on stage Saturday night time was a girl. Lauper’s all-female band included Gina Schock of the Go-Go’s, Lisa Coleman on keyboards, Raye and Avril Lavigne.

10. A Rousing Conclusion With a Little Assist From Pals

You may’t conclude a Rock Corridor ceremony with out an all-star jam. This was not the primary time the present ended with a canopy of the Beatles “With a Little Assist From My Pals,” however this 12 months it was accomplished within the soulful model of one of many late inductees, Joe Cocker.