The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class included Warren Zevon, Bad Company, Salt-N-Pepa, Outkast, Cyndi Lauper and The White Stripes.
Salt-N-Pepa threw on the multicolored leather jackets from their “Push It” video and brought the crowd at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony to its feet with a romping rendition of their 1987 breakthrough hit.
“This is for every woman who picked up a mic when they told her she couldn’t”, Cheryl “Salt” James said Saturday while accepting the musical influence award that made her, Sandra “Pepa” Denton and DJ Spinderella members of the hall.
In a rousing speech at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, James brought up their fight to reclaim their master recordings from Universal Music Group.
“The industry still doesn’t want to play fair, Salt-N-Pepa have never been afraid of a fight”, James said.
They took the stage for a medley of their hits. They opened with “Shoop” then slid into “Let’s Talk About Sex” before En Vogue joined them for their joint hit “What a Man.” “Push It” pushed the energy up another notch.
Spinderella became the first female DJ to enter the hall.
“The female rappers had to step to the mic and show that they could go toe to toe with the guys. And Salt, Pepa and Spinderella did it”, Missy Elliott said while inducting the trio.
Donald Glover inducted Outkast and Chappell Roan was set to induct Cyndi Lauper. Meg White not in attendance for induction of The White Stripes
The White Stripes reunion that some fans had hoped for didn’t happen. Their induction was among the highlights of the night anyway. Twenty One Pilots brought the house down with a version of the duo’s stadium-shaking anthem “Seven Nation Army” and Olivia Rodrigo and Feist doing a mid-audience acoustic version of “We’re Gonna Be Friends.
