Outkast, the White Stripes and Cyndi Lauper join the Rock Hall
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
By BRIAN RAFTERY
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has long been known as boomer mecca, where musicians of the ’60s and ’70s are feted and lionized. But its 2025 induction ceremony made one thing clear: Now, it’s Gen X’s time.
The concert-slash-coronation, which took place Saturday at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, honored several acts whose careers started in the 1980s and 1990s: grunge innovators Soundgarden; daring Southern rap duo Outkast; and the all-female hip-hop combo Salt-N-Pepa, who performed a vibrant medley that included the dance-floor staples “Push It” and “Let’s Talk About Sex.”
It was a notable passing-of-the-mic for the hall — and, perhaps, an inevitable one. Artists become eligible 25 years after the release of their first recording. And while the latest class features acts from the 1950s through the 1980s — including rock and soul pioneer Chubby Checker, British band Bad Company and raspy vocalist Joe Cocker — it was only a matter of time before the institution began adding musicians who broke through during the days of Sub Pop and Spin magazine.
Detroit-punk godfather Iggy Pop, who inducted garage-rock revivalists the White Stripes, recalled seeing an early photo of band members Jack and Meg White, and realizing a new era was dawning. “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 remained largely out of view since the band’s last show in 2007, didn’t attend, but Jack White brought a message from his co-founder: “She wanted me to tell you that she’s very grateful to all of the folks who supported her through all the years.”
Inducting Salt-N-Pepa, Missy Elliott praised members 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.’”
In the group’s speech, James noted that Salt-N-Pepa is currently in a legal battle with Universal Music Group over the rights to their master recordings. “As we celebrate this moment, fans can’t even stream our music,” James said. “It’s been taken down from all streaming platforms because the industry still doesn’t want to play fair.”
The members of Outkast, André “3000” Benjamin and Antwan Patton (aka Big Boi), arrived at the podium later, joined by a stage full of collaborators and friends. André, who didn’t take part in the subsequent performance alongside a lineup including Tyler, the Creator and Janelle Monáe, thanked those who supported the rappers in the early 1990s, when they were teenagers working out of an Atlanta basement known as the Dungeon.
“Great things start in little rooms,” he said, choking up.
In keeping with Rock Hall tradition, young musicians paid homage to older acts. Olivia Rodrigo and Feist performed the White Stripes’ “We Are Going to Be Friends,” while Twenty One Pilots covered the band’s “Seven Nation Army.” Chappell Roan inducted Cyndi Lauper by recounting her own performance of “True Colors” at a Missouri talent show when she was 14. Lauper was joined onstage by Raye and Avril Lavigne, then delivered a message of musical hope: “The little kid in me still believes that rock ’n’ roll can save the world.”
David Letterman offered a stirring posthumous tribute to Warren Zevon, noting that the acerbic singer-songwriter had given him a guitar after his final appearance on his late-night show in 2002 (Zevon died the following year). “This is the guitar,” Letterman said, “And by God, tonight it’s going back to work.” He handed the instrument to Dave Keuning of the Killers, who performed Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money.”
Jim Carrey honored Soundgarden with his own guitar story: The band gave him an autographed Telecaster after he’d marveled at a 1996 “Saturday Night Live” performance. He then introduced Lily Cornell, daughter of singer Chris Cornell, who died in 2017, who noted the support her father felt within the Seattle music scene of the 1990s: “I am just really, really happy that he got to make music with his friends.”
Surviving members of Soundgarden performed with Taylor Momsen on “Rusty Cage” and Brandi Carlile on “Black Hole Sun.” Cornell’s daughter Toni performed an acoustic version of the band’s “Fell on Black Days,” accompanied by Heart’s Nancy Wilson.
The show had opened with a Stevie Wonder-led tribute to Sly Stone, and it ended with a group jam on Cocker’s version of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends,” the stage filled with musicians from different scenes, sounds and eras. As Jack White had noted earlier in the night, there was room for more.
“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 added: “We all want to share in what you might create.”
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