Music

We lost a lot of great musicians in the past year, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame opened Saturday’s induction ceremony with a tribute to one of them, Sly Stone, who passed away in June at the age of 82.

The Sly tribute kicked off with Stevie Wonder performing “Dance to the Music.” He was backed by The Roots’ Questlove, who directed the doc Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius), on drums and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea on bass, with Beck on guitar and backing vocals.

The all-star tribute also featured R&B stars Leon Thomas and Maxwell performing “Everyday People” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” with Jennifer Hudson joining the lineup for the “Higher” finale.

But Sly wasn’t the only one remembered. Ahead of the in memoriam segment, the Rock Hall remembered the late Ozzy Osbourne, a two-time Hall of Fame inductee, with a montage of clips, including footage of his 2024 induction as a solo artist.

The in memoriam ended with footage of the late Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson, followed by a performance of “God Only Knows” by Elton John, who inducted The Beach Boys into the Rock Hall in 1988.

Elton recalled meeting Wilson for the first time, noting he was scared because Wilson was his idol.

“He was the one who influenced me more than anyone else when it came to writing songs on the piano,” Elton said. “Meeting someone who’s a true genius doesn’t happen very often.”

Highlights from the 2025 Rock Hall induction ceremony will air Jan. 1 on ABC.

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Joe Cocker was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Saturday night in Los Angeles with an all-star tribute that closed the ceremony.

Bryan Adams welcomed Cocker into the Rock Hall. He noted that the late singer, who passed away in 2014, had many hits covering tunes originally recorded by other artists, like The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends,” Dave Mason’s “Feelin’ Alright” and Billy Preston‘s “You Are So Beautiful.”

“It’s one thing to cover a song, but it’s another to make it your own. And that’s what Joe could do,” Adams said. “Even Paul McCartney acknowledged how Joe had transformed his Beatles classic into a soul anthem. And the list of songs Joe did that to is mighty.”

Several musicians were on hand to celebrate Cocker’s music, with Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks of Tedeschi Trucks Band and Nathaniel Rateliff kicking things off with a performance of “The Letter,” which was Cocker’s first top-10 hit. Teddy Swims then joined them for a performance of Mason’s “Feelin’ Alright,” which Cocker covered in 1969.

The night wrapped with an all-star closing jam, featuring Tedeschi Trucks Band, Swims, Adams, Rock Hall inductee Cyndi Lauper and The Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson performing Cocker’s version of “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

Highlights from the 2025 Rock Hall induction ceremony will air Jan. 1 on ABC.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Warren Zevon was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the Music Influence category Saturday night, with his good friend David Letterman doing the honors.

“In music many pretend, but Warren is a poet, leaving few of life’s vagaries unaddressed,” he said. “Warren’s music is dense with historic illusion, love and sadness tinted with unexpected whimsy, delivered with third rail voltage rock ‘n’ roll or sweet, heartbreaking, lush, symphonic melodies. Either version of the man’s music is classic rock ‘n’ roll.”

Letterman also recalled Zevon’s last appearance on The Late Show, which happened 22 years ago, just months after Zevon announced he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Letterman noted Zevon’s comments that what he learned about life following his diagnosis was to “enjoy every sandwich.”

“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 on to that on a daily basis,” Letterman added. “But by God isn’t that true of life around the planet.”

He ended his speech mentioning the guitar Zevon gifted him on that night, noting it was the guitar that had been displayed right beside him throughout his speech. He then said the guitar was “going back to work” and handed it over to The Killers guitarist Dave Keuning.

The band, along with legendary session guitarist Waddy Wachtel, a longtime Zevon collaborator, then paid tribute to Zevon with a performance of his hit “Lawyers, Guns and Money.”

Highlights from the 2025 Rock Hall induction ceremony will air Jan. 1 on ABC.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame can’t get enough of Bad Company.

The ’70s supergroup, made up of Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke, Mick Ralphs and Boz Burrell, was inducted into the Rock Hall Saturday night in Los Angeles, with Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood welcoming them into the prestigious music institution.

Fleetwood called BadCo “one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands of all time,” noting that frontman Rodgers “is the voice that every rock singer holds as their North Star.” He added, “To listen to a Bad Company song is to hear a once-in-a-lifetime voice take rock music to new heights.”

“Bad Company was grounded in the blues, but also created uniform, unforgettable pop melodies,” he said. “They helped define the musical path ahead for rock music.”

With Rodgers pulling out of the ceremony just days before it took place due to his health, Kirke was the only member of the band to attend the ceremony. He acknowledged Rodgers, calling him “one of the greatest rock singers of all time.” He also recognized his late bandmates Ralphs and Burrell, noting they’re “amongst us in the stars tonight.”

“They say it’s better to travel than to arrive, but I don’t know, tonight I’ve arrived with the band, and I’m so grateful,” he added.

Kirke also got a chance to step back behind the drum kit, backing an all-star lineup that included Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Heart’s Nancy Wilson, with The Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson handling the vocals on “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” and Bryan Adams taking over the mic for “Can’t Get Enough.”

Highlights from the 2025 Rock Hall induction ceremony will air Jan. 1 on ABC.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Cyndi Lauper was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during Saturday’s ceremony in Los Angeles.

Chappell Roan introduced the “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” artist in a speech paying tribute to her musical influence and activism work in the LGBTQ+ community.

“Cyndi embodies every quality of an artist that I admire,” the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer said. “She’s a born performer and a revolutionary songwriter, a forever fashion icon, and a fierce advocate and ally.”

Lauper then performed a three-song set beginning with her song “True Colors,” followed by “Time After Time” alongside RAYE. She closed with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” featuring Avril Lavigne and Salt-N-Pepa, who were inducted earlier in the night with the Musical Influence Award.

“I know that I stand on the shoulders of the women in the industry that came before me,” Lauper said in her acceptance speech. “And my shoulders are broad enough to have the women that come after me stand on mine.” 

She added, “The little kid in me still believes that rock ‘n’ roll can save the world.”

Highlights from the 2025 Rock Hall induction ceremony will air Jan. 1 on ABC.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

“Things Can Only Get Better” now that Howard Jones is coming to late night TV.

The synth-pop artist will perform on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Nov. 12. You can tune in to watch starting at 11:35 p.m. ET/10:35 p.m. CT.

The Kimmel appearance comes as Jones continues to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his 1985 album Dream into Action, which spawned the aforementioned “Things Can Only Get Better,” as well as the singles “No One Is to Blame,” “Like to Get to Know You Well” and “Life in One Day.”

Jones marked the Dream into Action anniversary with a U.S. tour in September and will be touring Europe into December.

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