The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony is this weekend. Who's getting in,
and who's honoring them?
[November 07, 2025]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chappell Roan will induct Cyndi Lauper, Donald Glover
will induct Outkast and Elton John will perform a tribute to the late
Brian Wilson at Saturday’s induction ceremony for the Rock & Roll Hall
of Fame.
The Rock Hall of Fame generally stays quiet about the roles to be played
by the long list of superstar guests announced for the show, but this
week has brought a trickle of revelations about who’s paying tribute to
which inductees.
The Rock Hall’s three-city rotation for the show brings it back to the
Peacock Theater in Los Angeles this year, after previous ceremonies in
New York and Cleveland.
It will stream live on Disney+ then become available on Hulu the
following day, with a highlights special airing on ABC on Jan. 1.
Along with Lauper and Outkast, the inductees will be Bad Company, Chubby
Checker, Soundgarden, Joe Cocker, Salt-N-Pepa, The White Stripes, Carole
Kaye, Nicky Hopkins, Lenny Waronker, Thom Bell and Warren Zevon.
Questions surrounding the ceremony
Will the two duos that lit up the early 2000s, Outkast and The White
Stripes, reunite? Outkast members Andre 3000 and Big Boi last performed
together in 2016. Andre 3000 has said in recent years that he’s not
interested in performing with the group or rapping at all, but Rock Hall
ceremonies have a tendency to be the exception to such declarations.
White Stripes drummer Meg White has not performed with her ex-husband
Jack White since 2011, and has led a very private life since. She could
appear back at her drum kit or at least show up to accept the honor.
What are all the other special guests doing? David Letterman seems
virtually certain to be inducting the late singer-songwriter Zevon. He
was a friend and huge fan who constantly had Zevon as a guest on his
show, including an emotional final appearance when the singer was dying
of cancer. Jim Carrey similarly seems to be a likely inductor of
Soundgarden, as a longtime devoted fan.
Other announced guests include Missy Elliott, Beck, Brandi Carlile, Doja
Cat, Killer Mike, Questlove and Janelle Monáe.
How the ceremony works
Typically, someone with a connection to the artist gives an induction
presentation, then the artist plays a few songs representative of their
career, then gives their acceptance speech.
If the artist is dead, or a no-show, or can’t or doesn’t want to take
the stage, someone performs their songs in tribute. The last time the
show was in Los Angeles, Olivia Rodrigo — who will be taking part again
this year — and Sara Bareilles were last-minute fill-ins for inductee
Carly Simon, who lost sisters Lucy and Joanna to cancer days earlier.
If key members of a band have died, the surviving members often play
with guests. When Nirvana was inducted in 2014, Joan Jett, St. Vincent
and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon stepped in as singers for the late Kurt
Cobain.
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Elton John performs on the South Lawn of the White House in
Washington, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
 The hall has announced that Avril
Lavigne will take the stage with Lauper. The other announced guest
musicians, who collectively play every instrument in the standard
rock band arsenal, have left plenty of room for speculation.
Fans expect that Seattle music giants Soundgarden, whose frontman
Chris Cornell died in 2017, will play with guests a la Nirvana.
Several musicians with ties to the band and their scene have been
revealed, including Nancy Wilson of Heart, Mike McCready of Pearl
Jam and Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains. Singers in the mix
include Rodrigo, Iggy Pop and Taylor Momsen.
Bad Company singer-songwriter Paul Rodgers said this week that his
health will keep him from appearing, and founding guitarist Mick
Ralphs died in June, so bassist Chris Kirke will play with guests.
Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood and Aerosmith guitarist Joe
Perry are among the musicians appearing who could be part of a
makeshift Bad Company.
Other deceased inductees whose songs someone will play include the
legendarily growly singer Cocker, the session keyboard giant
Hopkins, and Thom Bell, a producer who was a mastermind of
Philadelphia soul.
Bassist Kaye, who played on countless hits of the 1950s, ’60s and
’70s including many of Wilson’s Beach Boys songs, has said she won’t
appear and has expressed scorn for the Rock Hall.
How Rock Hall inductees are selected
Seven of the nominees: Checker, Cocker, Lauper, Outkast, Bad
Company, Soundgarden and the White Stripes, got in through the main
entrance. A nominating committee put them up for a vote from more
than 1,200 people that includes music industry figures and
historians.
Others got in through a sort of side door. Committees grant them
specific awards that circumvent the usual voting process, but
they’re still considered full-fledged Hall-of-Famers. Kaye, Hopkins
and Bell will receive the Musical Excellence Award. Salt-N-Pepa and
Zevon will get the Musical Influence Award. And longtime Warner
Bros. executive Lenny Waronker will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
Artists become eligible for the hall 25 years after their first
music release, but it can take much longer for the committee to put
them up for a vote. Checker made “The Twist” a national phenomenon
65 years ago, but his election this year came for his first
nomination. Cocker and Outkast were also first-time nominees. It was
the second time Lauper and The White Stripes were on the ballot, and
the third time for Soundgarden.
Checker and Waronker, both 84, are the oldest living inductees. The
two members of the White Stripes and the two men of Outkast, all 50,
are the youngest.
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