Cyndi Lauper, the White Stripes, and Outkast were among this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, signaling a generational shift at the 2025 ceremony in Los Angeles.
Long regarded as a shrine to classic-rock icons, the Hall officially ushered in the Gen X era during a night that celebrated music’s evolution across decades.
The event, held Saturday at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, honored artists whose careers began in the 1980s and 1990s, including grunge pioneers Soundgarden, Southern rap innovators Outkast, and the groundbreaking all-female hip-hop trio Salt-N-Pepa.
Their vibrant performance featured a medley of hits such as “Push It” and “Let’s Talk About Sex.”
It was a symbolic passing of the torch for the Hall, one that had been inevitable.
Eligibility begins 25 years after an artist’s debut release, and while the 2025 class still included names from earlier decades, like rock-and-soul legend Chubby Checker, British band Bad Company, and gravel-voiced singer Joe Cocker, the shift toward acts that rose during the Sub Pop and Spin magazine era had clearly arrived.
Detroit-punk icon Iggy Pop, inducting garage-rock duo the White Stripes, recalled seeing an early photo of Jack and Meg White and recognizing a new era.
“Basically, I was looking at a 21st-century Adam and Eve who had started a rock ’n’ roll band,” Pop said. “I thought, ‘Cute kids — they’ll probably go places.’ And they did!”
Meg White, who has largely stayed out of the public eye since the band’s final 2007 show, did not attend, but Jack White shared her message: “She wanted me to tell you that she’s very grateful to all of the folks who supported her through all the years.”
Missy Elliott, inducting Salt-N-Pepa, hailed Cheryl James (Salt), Sandra Denton (Pepa), and Deirdra Roper (DJ Spinderella) as “the bricklayers to the foundation that holds hip-hop together.”
“They came in, and they said, ‘Don’t shut that door. It’s female rappers that’s gonna come behind us, and we want them to be able to walk through freely with no problems.’”
During the group’s speech, James revealed that Salt-N-Pepa are currently in a legal dispute with Universal Music Group over ownership of their master recordings.
“As we celebrate this moment, fans can’t even stream our music,” she said. “It’s been taken down from all streaming platforms because the industry still doesn’t want to play fair.”
Outkast’s André “3000” Benjamin and Antwan Patton (Big Boi) later took the stage surrounded by collaborators and friends.
André, who did not perform in the subsequent tribute that featured Tyler, the Creator and Janelle Monáe, thanked the supporters who stood by them in their early days in an Atlanta basement known as the Dungeon. “Great things start in little rooms,” he said, holding back tears.
In keeping with Rock Hall tradition, younger musicians paid tribute to their predecessors. Olivia Rodrigo and Feist performed the White Stripes’ “We Are Going to Be Friends,” while Twenty One Pilots covered “Seven Nation Army.”
Chappell Roan inducted Cyndi Lauper, recalling how she once sang “True Colors” at a Missouri talent show at age 14. Lauper, joined by Raye and Avril Lavigne, shared a message of optimism: “The little kid in me still believes that rock ’n’ roll can save the world.”
David Letterman delivered an emotional posthumous tribute to Warren Zevon, recalling how the late singer-songwriter had given him a guitar after his final Late Show appearance in 2002. “This is the guitar,” Letterman said.
“And by God, tonight it’s going back to work.” He handed it to Dave Keuning of the Killers, who performed Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money.”
Jim Carrey honored Soundgarden with his own story, recalling that the band once gave him a signed Telecaster after he praised their 1996 Saturday Night Live performance.
He then introduced Lily Cornell, daughter of late frontman Chris Cornell, who reflected on her father’s bond with Seattle’s 1990s music scene. “I am just really, really happy that he got to make music with his friends,” she said.
Soundgarden’s surviving members performed “Rusty Cage” with Taylor Momsen and “Black Hole Sun” with Brandi Carlile. Cornell’s daughter Toni closed their segment with an acoustic “Fell on Black Days,” joined by Nancy Wilson of Heart.
The ceremony opened with Stevie Wonder leading a tribute to Sly Stone and concluded with an all-star jam of Joe Cocker’s version of “With a Little Help From My Friends.”
The finale gathered musicians from multiple generations, a fitting reminder, as Jack White told the audience earlier, that the future of rock remains wide open.
“To the young artists I want to say: Get your hands dirty, and drop the screens, and get out in your garage or your little room, and get obsessed,” he said. “We all want to share in what you might create.”
