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Toni Cornell is reflecting on the emotional experience of performing at her late father Chris Cornell‘s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday (Nov. 8). The grunge icon was enshrined posthumously along with his Soundgarden bandmates — drummer Matt Cameron, bassist Ben Shepherd, guitarist Kim Thayil and founding bassist Hiro Yamamoto — with Toni, 21, performing a moving version of the band’s 1995 single “Fell on Black Days” alongside Heart’s Nancy Wilson.
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“Soundgarden belonged in the Rock Hall from the day they started making their revolutionary music. A huge congratulations to Matt, Kim, Ben, and Hiro, and especially to my dad, who should have been here to share this moment with his bandmates. I know how proud he is,” Toni wrote in a lengthy Instagram post on Tuesday (Nov. 11). “Thank you to the legendary @nancywilson for honoring him beside me, and to Brandi [Carlile] and Taylor [Momsen] for continuously sharing his music and keeping his spirit alive. And to the fans, who are the reason this music still breathes.”
Toni said that performing the churning single from the band’s fourth studio album, Superunknown, was “one of the greatest honors of my life, and one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. My dad’s absence is always felt, but singing his songs always makes me feel closer to him. I’m so grateful I got to share this moment for him, and with him, in some way.”
The young singer who released her debut single, “Far Away Places,” in 2019, included a number of pictures from Saturday’s induction performance, as well as a snap of the first time she ever saw her dad’s band perform live in which she is holding up an iPad while watching from the wings. The photo roll also included a snap with her brother, Christopher Cornell and an image of the siblings greeting their dad onstage as children.
“I was six years old when Soundgarden reunited. My brother and I were lucky to see small pieces of that moment unfold, not realizing we were witnessing something historic,” she wrote of seeing the legendary grunge band come back together in 2010 following their split in 1997. “I’ll never forget walking into Soundgarden’s reunion show with my brother, my American Girl doll in tow, and seeing my dad step onstage again with Soundgarden after more than a decade. I might have been too young to understand the magnitude of this moment, but I still knew I was witnessing something extraordinary. I will forever be grateful for those years, eventually spending time in Seattle and experiencing the greatness of the Pacific Northwest that inspired my dad and his bandmates so immensely.”
Toni said those critical moments watching her dad shaped her, while being on the road for years with the band also molded her as an artist and person outside her public persona as “Chris’s daughter.” She said people would often tell her that Cornell and Soundgarden’s music had saved them, and watching the band’s legacy get honored by the Rock Hall made her realize how true that was.
“Daddy, you are beloved and your music will forever change people’s lives. Long live Soundgarden,” she wrote.
The emotional post got a thumbs up from Pretty Reckless singer Momsen, who earlier in the night took the stage fronting Soundgarden at the induction ceremony to perform a searing version of Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage.” “So beautiful Toni,” Momsen wrote in the comments.
Check out Toni Cornell’s performance below.
Trending on Billboard A federal judge rejected a lawsuit claiming the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame broke the law by using a copyrighted photo of Eddie Van Halen in a museum exhibit. Dismissing a case filed by rock photographer Neil Zlozower, Judge Christopher A. Boyko said the Rock Hall made legal “fair use” of […]
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Salt-N-Pepa celebrated a high honor over the weekend after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joining legends such as Outkast, ’80s icon Cyndi Lauper, and Chubby Checker. During the induction speech, Salt-N-Pepa took a shot at the music industry, as the legendary trio is involved in a legal fight to gain streaming rights to their music.
This past Saturday (November 8), Salt-N-Pepa, which consists of Cheryl “Salt” James, Sandi “Pepa” Denton, and Deidra “Spindarella” Roper, accepted the Music Influence after a moving introduction from Missy Elillott, using the moment to take a bow for what they were able to achieve as the first women in Hip-Hop to hit superstar status.
Salt playfully and confidently delivered the speech, thanking their fans for emulating the group’s fly looks, and even teased their guy fans who had their posters on the wall. However, James aimed some darts in the direction of the Universal Music Group (UMG) but didn’t name them in the jab.
“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,” Denton began.
She continued with, “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.”
Check out Salt-N-Pepa’s spcial Rock and Roll Hall of Fame moment below.
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Soundgarden were officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday (Nov. 8), with actor-comedian Jim Carrey leading the tribute in a heartfelt, deeply personal speech that recalled his first experience seeing the grunge pioneers perform live.
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The comedian told the audience at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles that he met the band in 1996 while hosting Saturday Night Live, where he personally requested Soundgarden as the musical guest.
“By then, the lineup was Chris [Cornell], Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron on drums, and Ben Shepherd on base. They launched into the dark, epic beauty of ‘Pretty Noose,’” Carrey explained.
“I stood right in front of them, letting the waves of electricity wash over me, like an audio baptism. They pushed me under and when I came up I was free.”
Carrey revealed that after the show, the band gifted him one of his most prized possessions: a Fender Telecaster signed by all four members, including late frontman Chris Cornell.
Cornell’s eldest daughter Lily took the stage following a video tribute to her father, delivering a touching speech and acknowledging her mother and Cornell’s former wife, Susan Silver, who once managed Soundgarden.
The surviving members of Soundgarden — Matt Cameron, Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd, and founding bassist Hiro Yamamoto — were present for the induction. Yamamoto, who reunited with the band for the occasion, referenced his family’s internment during World War II: “That affected my life greatly,” he said. “And it really echoes strongly today. Let’s not add another story like this to our history.”
Kim Thayil reflected on Cornell’s creative leadership, stating, “If one of us ever hesitated in sharing an idea, Chris would be the first to say, ‘Let’s just try it out and see.’ I miss him. I love him, and I love all my [Soundgarden] brothers.”
The performance portion of the night featured Taylor Momsen (of The Pretty Reckless) fronting Soundgarden for “Rusty Cage” and Brandi Carlile joining them for “Black Hole Sun.” The ceremony concluded with Chris Cornell’s younger daughter, Toni, performing “Fell on Black Days” alongside Nancy Wilson.
The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees also included OutKast, Bad Company, Cyndi Lauper, The White Stripes, Chubby Checker, and Joe Cocker. The event streamed live on Disney+ and will be available on-demand.
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Meg White missed the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which honored the the White Stripes — her iconic duo with Jack White — at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles Saturday night (Nov. 8). But the bookends of Jack’s speech were all about Meg, who’d edited most of it.
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“I spoke with Meg the other day,” he said at the podium, sharing, “She wanted me to tell you she’s very grateful to all the folks who supported her through all the years. It really means a lot to her tonight.”
“She checked it for me,” he added of the speech he was about to give on behalf of the pair. “A lot of punctuation corrections, too.”
Though White’s emotion was palpable throughout the speech, it was most felt in the poem he brought to the room, one that he said he was going to send to Meg ahead of time but hadn’t.
Instead, he noted, “I thought I’d read it to you all tonight.”
“One time, a girl climbed a tree, and in that tree was a boy — her brother, she thought. And the tree looked so glorious and beautiful, but it was just an oak tree. And 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. And 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, but it was just in their garage.
He looked at the girl, his sister, he thought, and like the Little Rascals, they said, ‘Let’s put on a show.’ And they paraded this float through the Cass Corridor, standing atop the Peppermint, pulled by white horses or maybe it was a red Econoline van. And many of the blocks they traveled were empty, but some had people.
And some of those people cheered and some laughed and some even threw stones. And with their bare hands, the two started to clap and sing and make up songs. And some people kept watching and swaying and moving, and then one person even smiled. And the boy and the girl looked at each other, and they also smiled.
And they felt, 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. And 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.”
Jack and Meg released six studio albums, including the Grammy-winning Icky Thump, together as the White Stripes before parting ways in 2011. Meg now stays out of the spotlight.
Following Jack’s speech, Olivia Rodrigo and Feist performed a sweet duet of the band’s “We’re Going to Be Friends” (2002) and 21 Pilots took on “Seven Nation Army” (2003), in tribute to the honorees.
Jack White and Olivia Rodrigo attend the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Peacock Theater on Nov. 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for RRHOF
Rodrigo’s been vocal about the White Stripes being her favorite band: “I was so obsessed with Jack White’s guitar, and I made my mom take me to guitar lessons so I could learn how to play all of his songs,” she said in a 2021 interview. “Fell in Love With a Girl” was one of the first songs she learned to play. Rodrigo first met her hero in 2022.
The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony honored the White Stripes as well as Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, OutKast and Soundgarden in the performer category; Salt-N-Pepa and Warren Zevon for musical influence; Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins and Carol Kaye for musical excellence, and Lenny Waronker with the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
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The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has the most iconic and influential recording artists, performers and songwriters in the music industry. For 2025, the induction ceremony features Bad Company, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden, The White Stripes and others.
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The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony takes place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, with performances from Brandi Carlile, Chappell Roan, Donald Glover, Elton John, Jim Carrey, The Killers, Missy Elliott, Olivia Rodrigo and others. The ceremony livestreams on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT online.
Read on for the best way to stream the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony online.
How to Watch The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Online
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is exclusively livestreams on Disney+ for subscribers only.
Not a subscriber? Sign up for Disney+ to watch the ceremony, as well as movies and TV shows from the Walt Disney Company, Lucasfilm (Star Wars), Marvel Studios, Pixar Animation, Twentieth Century Studios, National Geographic and more.
You can bundle the ad-supported plans of Disney+ and Hulu together starting at $12.99 per month. That’s 45% off the subscription price, if you were to sign up individually. Learn more about the Disney+, Hulu Bundle here.
On Disney+, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is a celebration iconic legends and performers. The new inductees include Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden and The White Stripes as performers. Salt-N-Pepa and Warren Zevon are included for musical Influence, while Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins and Carol Kaye are in for musical excellence. Meanwhile, Lenny Waronker receives the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
Additionally, the ceremony features performances from top recording artists, like Avril Lavigne, Beck, Brandi Carlile, Chappell Roan, Donald Glover, En Vogue, Elton John, Jim Carrey, The Killers, Mick Fleetwood, Missy Elliott, Olivia Rodrigo and others.
On Saturday, Nov. 8, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony livestreams on Disney+ for subscribers only. The ceremony starts at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
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Over the last 12 years, Greg Harris has quietly, methodically steered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to massive financial growth despite a swamp of issues — from its lack of female inductees to Rolling Stone founder Jann S. Wenner’s abrupt 2020 departure as foundation chairman to Dolly Parton’s (temporary) refusal to accept her nomination. According to ProPublica, the Cleveland-based hall and museum’s revenue increased from $19.2 million in Harris’ first year as president and CEO in 2012 to $54.8 million in 2023, while its annual visitors recently hit 1.5 million. “We worked to grow the business so that we’d be more stable,” says Harris. “And we have an incredible group of donors.”
Talking to Billboard by phone from the museum’s I.M. Pei-designed pyramid — before he visited the construction site of its $135 million, 50,000-square-foot expansion — Harris previewed the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony to induct Outkast, Cyndi Lauper, Joe Cocker, The White Stripes and others. (The show, this Saturday Nov. 8, will be livestreamed on Disney+.) He also discussed the Hall of Fame’s six new board members, plus Chris Kelly, a partner at Cleveland law firm Jones Day, who became board chair in July. A former Philadelphia record-store owner, folklorist and top National Baseball Hall of Fame exec, Harris spoke of the common “emotional impact” of sports, music and folklore during the conversation, which you can read in full below.
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What accounts for the revenue growth since you’ve been president?
Harris: We’ve greatly increased our visitation in those years. We made the museum more experiential. Odds are, in the summer, there’s a live band onstage. You can play guitars and drums and things in new spaces that we’ve built and jam with other visitors. We’ve made a lot of investments in improving the visitor experience, and they’ve paid off.
What’s the greatest percentage of revenue? Is it the paid visitors, or something else?
Visitors, ticket sales and retail sales are incredibly important, and we have a lot of events and groups that do events. Our fundraising is what’s enabled us to do this massive expansion project.
It strikes me that the iconic names from the ’50s and ’60s have mostly been inducted, so the Hall of Fame has to update it with new generations. Is that difficult? Fun? Both?
It’s a healthy project to continue to look at different eras. And maybe going against your hypothesis is that Chubby Checker and Joe Cocker are going in, and you could extend that up to the ’70s and ’80s and ’90s with Warren Zevon.
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Do you get as many, “That’s not rock ‘n’ roll, that’s Dolly Parton, or [fill in the blank],” as much as you used to?
I believe that’s died down. This big tent of rock ‘n’ roll, that all these different genres and sounds and eras fit into it, has become much more widely accepted. It’s fun to tell these stories about how it all fits together rather than defend a decision here or there. It’s all rock ‘n’ roll. It all fits.
Everybody has a hot take on who should be in and who shouldn’t. What’s yours?
When I came over here, you would think about a certain artist, and most of them have gotten in. Back then, I thought Tom Waits should be in, of course — now he’s in. Stevie Ray [Vaughan] — now he’s in. Hall and Oates — now they’re in. That’s the debate we get to have all year long. At this moment, let’s celebrate this year’s inductees.
The new trustees have business backgrounds, not music backgrounds. Why is that the right criteria to lead the Hall of Fame?
What we look for is good trustees that will help advise us, help us think bigger and help us grow. Because the museum has such an economic impact in northeast Ohio, we do have quite a few of them from northeast Ohio, and they’re here to make sure this entity is terrific for this region while still being terrific for the world.
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Chris Kelly, the new board chair, was head of the Republican National Convention host committee in 2016. Did that come up in the process of choosing him for the Hall of Fame, since so many people involved in the organization are politically progressive?
The host committee is what every city has when they try to attract a political convention. That convention was in Cleveland in 2016, but the reason why cities want them is because they’re a massive economic boon to the local economy. It’s not a political statement. It’s about attracting these things, like attracting the Olympics to your town.
Early in your career, you went from founding the Philadelphia Record Exchange to studying folklore in Cooperstown, N.Y., which led you to the Baseball Hall of Fame, then here. What was that transition like?
When I discovered there were these people called folklorists who do oral history, they make documentary films, they produce records, I thought, “What a career, that’s me.” After the Record Exchange, I road-managed some bands. I went back to college and thought I’d go to law school and worked for a law firm, and it just wasn’t for me. That’s when I went heavy on the folklore and museum studies. The great thing is, it’s a history of everyday people, and in many ways that’s what rock ‘n’ roll is all about.
Anything I’ve missed?
One thing is to make sure fans tune in. Go online and watch the streams of the induction. Visit us in Cleveland. We’re open 363 days a year. We have an exhibit right now on Saturday Night Live, 50 years of music that contains every performance. You can watch all of them.
[Harris calls back 30 seconds after the interview.]
What I should’ve ended with was, I love all museums, but this is the greatest museum in the world, and the one place where every visitor has a memory tied to the songs. People come through, they hear a certain song or they remember something they heard in college, the greatest road trip of their life … all that is tied to the music we get to honor every single day at the museum.
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With just days to go before this year’s induction ceremony, one of the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees has sent his regrets. Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers posted a note on the band’s socials on Monday (Nov. 3) revealing that his ill health will prevent him from participating.
Bad Company are slated to be inducted into the Rock Hall this weekend at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles alongside Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, OutKast, Soundgarden and The White Stripes in the Performer category and Salt-N-Pepa and Warren Zevon for Musical Influence.
But, just days after the other surviving original member of the English rock supergroup – fellow former Free member drummer Simon Kirke — revealed that the two planned to reunite to play two songs on Saturday, Rodgers said he cannot participate.
“My hope was to be at the Rock & Rock Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and to perform for the fans, but at this time I have to prioritize my health,” Rodgers, 75, said in a statement without providing any additional information on his condition. “I have no problem singing, it’s the stress of everything else. Thanks for understanding. Simon along with some outstanding musicians will be stepping in for me – guaranteed to rock.”
Rodgers, Kirke, late guitarist Mick Ralphs and late bassist Boz Burrell will be inducted this weekend for their roles in the 1970s rock juggernaut whose biggest hits include “Bad Company” and “Can’t Get Enough” (1974), “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and “Shooting Star” (1975) and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy” (1979) among others.
The group originally split in 1982 and have reunited several times over the years in a variety of configurations to tour and record albums, last performing together in 2019. But in 2023, Kirke said the band was likely done due to a variety of health issues suffered by Rodgers over the past few years, with the singer revealing to CBS Mornings that year that he’d suffered two major strokes — one in 2016 and another in 2019 — as well as 11 minor strokes.
This year’s RRHOF induction ceremony will stream live coast-to-coast on Disney+ Saturday (Nov. 8), at 8 p.m. ET, and will be available to stream following the ceremony. ABC will also air a primetime special with performance highlights and standout moments on Jan. 1, at 8 p.m. ET, available the next day on Hulu.
This year’s event will feature an impressive list of performers and presenters, including: Beck, Brandi Carlile, David Letterman, Doja Cat, Elton John, Flea, Iggy Pop, J.I.D, Killer Mike, Maxwell, Missy Elliott, Olivia Rodrigo, Questlove, RAYE, Sleepy Brown, Taylor Momsen, Teddy Swims and Twenty One Pilots.
Lenny Kravitz is heading Down Under for his first run of Australian dates in over a decade.
Announced on Monday (June 16), the Australian leg of the four-time Grammy winner’s Blue Electric Light Tour will launch in November 2025, with a six-date run of shows.
Alongside expected headline dates in cities such as Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, Kravitz will also be visiting Newcastle and the South Australian capital of Adelaide to perform at the bp Adelaide Grand Final motorsports event.
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Most notably, Kravitz will also be visiting the regional Victorian city of Mildura which – according to the 2021 census – boasts a population just shy of 35,000. Though not a location completely devoid of live performances, it’s a city that rarely features on the itinerary for international artists.
“We are so excited to once again be hosting an international act at the Mildura Sporting Precinct,” said Mildura’s City Council Mayor Helen Healy in a statement to the press. “This is a major win for our region and a testament to the success of hosting world-class events like the Kings of Leon concert in 2022.”
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The forthcoming run of tour dates will be the first time Kravitz has visited Australia since 2012. That visit was itself many years in the making, with his only other visits to the country taking place in 1993 and 1994.
Since his last visit, Kravitz has released three further albums, including 2014’s Strut, 2018’s Raise Vibration, and 2024’s Blue Electric Light. Additionally, in 2024, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and also received his first nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though he was not inducted.
Lenny Kravitz – Blue Electric Light 2025 Australian Tour Dates
Nov. 18 – Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, NSWNov. 19 – Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle, NSWNov. 21 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, QLDNov. 25 – John Cain Arena, Melbourne, VICNov. 28 – Sporting Precinct, Mildura, VICNov. 29 – bp Adelaide Grand Final, Adelaide, SA
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From Jay-Z and LL Cool J to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, here’s every rapper in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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