Copyright Vulture
Last year, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame chairman John Sykes cracked open the door to dispel a bit of mystique that surrounds his nominating committee. In addition to loosening what the organization considers “rock” in the strictest sense of the word, Sykes joked that the annual meeting often unravels into a “good old-fashioned shouting match” that can sometimes look like “a cross between an intellectual conversation and WWE.” The goal, as always, is to gather the best possible inductees for any given year. And the class of 2025 sure delivered that promise: Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, OutKast, Soundgarden, and the White Stripes represented the main slate of performers, while Warren Zevon, Salt-N-Pepa, Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins, and Carol Kaye were funneled in through special categories. The runtime, too, clocked in at just under four and a half hours, the semaglutided effect of the Rock Hall returning to Los Angeles. The November 8 ceremony is currently available to stream in full on Disney+, and, for those who can’t handle another subscription in their lives, it will also be available to watch as a condensed broadcast on ABC on New Years Day. So, what rock and roll fantasy was dreamed into reality this time around? Vulture was reporting live from the Peacock Theater to keep track of all of the highs, lows, and whoas the induction had to offer. May we all be as optimistic in life as those who truly believed Meg White would show up. WHOA: Cyndi Lauper’s gender magnifying glass Despite recent strides to increase the number of female inductees into the Rock Hall, this year’s class receded in terms of representation: Cyndi Lauper and Meg White were the only women in the Performers category, while Salt-N-Pepa and Carol Kaye padded out the list thanks to belated inclusion in backdoor awards. Lauper, who has been critical of the previous, Jann Wenner-lead Rock Hall administration, made sure viewers were aware of that. “I was always part of the rock and roll community, anyway, they just didn’t want to talk to me because they thought I was a little crazy, I don’t know why,” she said. “I’m so happy you’re bringing women back in, there are a lot of us. And long live rock and roll.” WHOA: Meg White was there, in spirit Jack White’s first-ever appearance at a Rock Hall ceremony — surprising, given how he serves as an elder statesman at other big events — was cemented with the White Stripes’ induction. (They got in on their second attempt after being passed over in 2023.) Unsurprisngly, Meg White, who retreated from public life and hasn’t been heard from for over a decade, was a no-show. Good for her! As a consolation, though, Jack confirmed that the duo are very much still in close contact and spoke as recently as this week. “She says that she’s very sorry she couldn’t make it here tonight but she wanted me to tell you that she’s very grateful to all of the folks who supported her through all of the years, it really means a lot to her tonight,” he explained from the podium. She assisted in Jack’s speechwriting. “I sent these things to her and she checked it for me,” he said, pointing to his index cards. “A lot of punctuations and corrections, too. She’s pretty good at that.” Meg even had a specific anecdote to relay: “She wanted me to tell you all, Remember, Jack, when we used to walk around and for some reason animals would stop and stare at us? Even at the Detroit Zoo an elephant did the exact same thing one time.” Jack concluded his speech with a parable of sorts that he wrote about the White Stripes, which viewers and Meg both got to hear for the first time together. It’s typed out, in full, below. One time, a girl climbed a tree, and in that tree was a boy, her brother, she thought. The tree looked so glorious and beautiful, but it was just an oak tree. These two so loved the world that they brought forth a parade float, one they built in their garage behind the oak tree with their own bare hands. The boy looked at this giant peppermint on wheels and felt pride. Pride that it was produced in the Motor City, just like in the big factories, even though it was just their garage. He looked at the girl, his sister, he thought, and like the Little Rascals, they said, Let’s put on a show. They paraded this float through the Cass Corridor, standing atop the peppermint pulled by white horses, or maybe it was a red Econoline van. Many of the blocks they traveled were empty, but some had people. Some of those people cheered, some laughed, and some even threw stones. With their bare hands, the two started to clap and sing and make up songs. Some people kept watching and swaying and moving. Then one person even smiled. The boy and the girl looked at each other, and they also smiled. They both felt the sin of pride, but they kept on smiling — smiling from a new freedom, knowing that they had shared and made another person feel something. They thought the person smiling at them was a stranger, someone they didn’t even know. But it wasn’t just a stranger. It was God. HIGH: OutKast started in a little room Thirty years ago, when OutKast won New Artist of the Year at the Source Awards, André 3000 declared: “The South got somethin’ to say!” Now, accepting his group’s induction into the Rock Hall — joining a growing arsenal of hip-hop powerhouses — André grew visibly emotional while recalling Jack White’s earlier speech about their respective humble beginnings. “He said something about little rooms. Great things start in little rooms,” he said. That’s it.” It was in those rooms, too, where André learned about how to handle competition in the rap industry. “I’m from another side. I always felt like it was better to inspire somebody else. I never felt I was in competition with nobody,” he explained. “To me, it’s always like, I want to see you do something great and I want to do something great. I’m not trying to be better than you. We are who we are. Going back and forth, the competition of who’s dope, that’s cool, but inspiring people is what it’s about.” It was a sentiment that Donald Glover echoed in his own remarks about OutKast: “You proved that art could argue and harmonize all at once in an industry designed to capitalize on our fighting. It gave me great solace.” HIGH: David Letterman, an excitable boy Closing the loop on a campaign nearly three years in the making, David Letterman inducted his old friend, Warren Zevon, into the Rock Hall. The legacy of Zevon’s final visit to The Late Show, which occurred in 2002 while he was dying of lung cancer, loomed large over Letterman’s speech. “It was very difficult for me because I had never talked to somebody who pretty much understood that within a short period of time they would be leaving the planet. It was difficult,” he explained. “I thought Warren was grateful, happy, kind, and he worked very hard. And then the thing about ‘enjoy every sandwich,’ you know 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 onto that on a daily basis. But by God isn’t that true of life around the planet. Enjoy every sandwich.” He also detailed how the musician gifted him a treasured guitar when the show’s taping ended, an unexpected act of generosity that stills moves Letterman to this day. “He closes the guitar case and hands it to me and says, ‘Take care of this for me.’ In my head I think I’ve seen this movie,” Letterman said. “I know what’s supposed to happen now and it sure as hell did happen: I started to sob uncontrollably. Warren and I hugged and I said, ‘Warren, I just love your music.’ So for 22 years I’ve taken care of the guitar and this is the guitar right here. By God, tonight it’s going back to work.” Dave Keuning, lead guitarist for the Killers, proceeded to use it for the band’s electrifying performance of “Lawyers, Guns, and Money.” Was he with the Russians too? HIGH: Spinderella is the first female DJ inductee Read this in the Patrick Stewart voice: Missy Elliott and her bedazzled kufi sprinkled the sonic flavors of Salt-N-Pepa from the podium, declaring that the trio were the greatest teachers she ever had in hip-hop. “They inspired me to become an MC,” Elliott said. “When they came up in this game, it was more male rappers. The female rappers had to step to the mic and show they could go toe-to-toe with the guys.” Salt-N-Pepa’s induction marked the first time a female DJ, Spinderella, has been inducted into the Rock Hall. History alert! “These three women are the brick layers of the foundation that holds hip-hop together,” Elliot added. “They gave us their shoulders to stand on.” WHOA: What do you mean we can’t stream ‘Shoop’? Salt-N-Pepa is currently suing Universal Music for the ownership of their master recordings, which includes everything from the highs of “Whatta Man” to the even higher highs of “Push It.” Salt used a portion of her speech to draw further attention to the lawsuit. “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,” she explained. “Salt-N-Pepa have 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.” For those who particularly liked the ladies’ Hot, Cool & Vicious-era looks, an additional message from Salt: “I want to apologize to the countless fans who got in trouble for cutting their hair like us and singing our lyrics. We love you. To all the guys who had a crush on us and had our posters on the wall, you’re welcome.” WHOA: Soundgarden sounds off Hiro Yamamoto, a founding member and original bassist for Soundgarden, used his speech to draw further attention to the immigrants being targeted by ICE agents. “Thanks to my parents, whose stories [are] of American citizens who were rounded up and placed into prison camps just for being Japanese during World War II. Well, that affected my life greatly, and it really echoes strongly today. Let’s not add another story like this to our history,” he said. “To everyone else out there, especially all you brown kids, let’s rock!” LOW: André 3000 didn’t shake it like a Polaroid picture If you want to see the man known as André Benjamin in a live setting, have fun shelling out $200 to see him play his Grammy-nominated flute album. No bars! He declined to reunite with Big Boi and flow through his OutKast hits on the stage, leaving Big Boi — who declared he was “about to burn this bitch down” — to instead be joined by a madcap medley of talent that included Doja Cat (who at one point lost her “Ms. Jackson” flow), Tyler, the Creator, and Killer Mike. Janelle Monáe closed the segment by gyrating and belting out “Hey Ya!” on a table in the audience. WHOA: Two pairs of glasses, one speech for Iggy Pop Super cute. We have nothing else to say about it. LOW: Chubby Checker really did that In case you were confused why Chubby Checker gave a pre-recorded speech in the ballroom of a two-star hotel, it’s because the twisting machine refused to attend his induction for reasons that are still a bit difficult to parse. Checker accepted the award after a concert in Iowa in late July, which the Rock Hall (unprecedentedly) supported and helped arrange. “When I go through Cleveland in the car I’ll think totally differently than before because a light has gone off in my life,” the 84 year-old said. “I can’t say how wonderful it is that this has happened to me and I’m alive to enjoy it.” A longer speech that the Rock Hall cut from the broadcast, however, had Checker going on a tangent about his fears in how the public would perceive him if he attended the ceremony, as well as his request to his manager to double-book him the night of the Rock Hall. And now, a wonderful quote from Soundgarden’s Matt Cameron… “I accept this honor on behalf of the fans of our music, and also the misfits, loners, and introverts who found comfort and solace in the lyrics and music of my hero and bandmate, Chris Cornell. I love you, Chris.” HIGH: A seven nation army couldn’t hold Twenty One Pilots back And they were literally wearing white stripes on their heads while covering that bands most enduring hit. Brava. WHOA: Jim Carrey? For Soundgarden? Actually, we’ll let Jim Carrey probe that even further: “Why would Soundgarden, the heaviest of rock and roll royalty, want Jim Carrey to induct them into the Hall of Fame? Is there some deep, cosmic connection between us? Or was the Spoonman not available?” We don’t know what the Spoonman’s excuse is, but Carrey fell down an entertaining rabbit hole of a speech about how he grew up with the awe-inspiring bands of the hard rock era. “Every day, I’d spend hours in front of a floodlight in my basement, playing power chords on a goalie stick. When the Seattle music scene exploded, it resurrected rock and roll for me,” he explained. “When I first heard Soundgarden, I wasn’t just excited. I wanted to put a flannel shirt on and run into the streets screaming, ‘My mother smoked during pregnancy!’” When Carrey hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time in 1996, he said that he specifically requested Soundgarden to be the musical guest — a request that was honored. “During rehearsal, they launched into the dark, epic beauty of ‘Pretty Noose.’ I stood right in front of them, letting the waves of electricity wash over me like an audio baptism,” he recalled. “They pushed me under, and when I came up, I was free.” After the show wrapped up, Soundgarden presented Carrey with one of his most prized possessions: the Fender Telecaster that Chris Cornell played on SNL, signed by the whole band. (Letterman would understand the emotions.) “Later that night, Chris showed up at my hotel room with an acoustic guitar and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and we wrote some songs. Okay, I may have dreamt that part. But I’ll never forget that night,” Carrey added. “I did get to hang out with Chris a few times after that. He was always sincere, very down to earth, thoughtful, and funny.” LOW: Do the harmonies, Elton John! Elton John, who’s enjoying semi-retirement from live performances, led a special tribute of “God Only Knows” to Brian Wilson. To kick things off, he recalled the first time he and Bernie Taupin met Wilson in Los Angeles in the 1970s. “We were scared shitless because he was my idol,” John said with a laugh, “and the one who influenced me more than anyone else when it came to writing songs on the piano.” Lovely, but alas: Despite performing the interlude harmonies in the past, John refused to indulge this time around and sat still at his piano. Zero buh-bow, buh-bow, buh-bow, buh-bow, buh-bows. Zero do do, do do, do, dos. WHOA: Paul Rodgers was too stressed to attend Bad Company’s sole representative for their induction was drummer Simon Kirke (yes, nepo-baby trackers, he’s the father of Jessa from Girls) as frontman Paul Rodgers revealed earlier this month that he would forgo the ceremony to prioritize his health. “I have no problem singing,” he wrote at the time, “it’s the stress of everything else.” Instead, Rodgers sent in a pre-recorded speech where he quoted from Desiderata, a poem tailor-made for motivational posters: “You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Therefore, be at peace with God, and whatever your labor and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. It is still a beautiful world. My prayer for us is that we all choose love.” LOW: Legally speaking, that was a super-jam Oh, how the mighty have fallen. For a ceremony where super-jams were once synonymous with Travelling Wilburys and Beatles, this one — set to Joe Cocker’s version of “With a Little Help From My Friends” — was a recycled version of a song that was already used for the super-jam in 2015. But instead of being led by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Stevie Wonder, and a bunch of other capital-L legends, we have … Chris Robinson, Teddy Swims, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Better than none at all, we suppose? HIGH: We’ll just call the Sly Stone tribute this year’s super-jam The ceremony’s very first segment hit like a groovy EpiPen, which celebrated the life and work of Sly Stone, who died earlier this year at the age of 82. You try not to bop to “Dance to the Music,” “Everyday People,” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” while Stevie Wonder holds court on the keys. The Vulture Honorary Award for ‘Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone’ Goes to… Bryan Adams. Last month, the musician admitted to us that he often felt unsure of his place among his establishment peers. “In the fraternity of this rock world, I don’t think that I’m seen,” he explained. “I don’t get invited. I can walk around and no one will say anything to me.” How nice, then, that he was invited somewhere and showed up for three occasions at this year’s ceremony: To perform “Can’t Get Enough” on behalf of Bad Company, induct Joe Cocker, and join in on the super-jam. In his speech for Cocker — whom Adams wrote songs for and collaborated with throughout his career — he revealed that he once made the “fatal mistake” of trying to drink with his friend after a recording session. “For those of you who knew Joe, you knew that this combination was famously called the Joe Cola,” Adams explained, referring to a bottle of soda and rum. “I wasn’t particularly interested in either of these drinks, but after he sang a one-take vocal performance, Joe insisted that he celebrate with a Joe Cola. And I can tell you, unequivocally, that was the end of the recording session.” Nice speech? Check. Being game to sing for a band he seemingly has no meaningful connection to? Double check. Adams just shot up in the Rock Hall power rankings for a future induction, whether the Canadian government has to apologize for him or not. The Vulture Honorary Award for ‘I Thought Your Band Didn’t Make the Cut?’ Goes to… Chris Robinson, whose group, the Black Crowes, didn’t get enough voter support for a 2025 induction and were near the very bottom of Vulture’s anonymous Rock Hall ballot. That didn’t keep Robinson from taking over vocal duties for Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” appearing at the evening’s super-jam, and mispronouncing Bryan Adams as “Bryan Adam.” Reader poll: How much do you think Chappell Roan’s hat weighed? We’re going to do an over/under bet of 18 pounds.
