Soundgarden was joined by a cavalcade of musical all-stars including Brandi Carlile, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, and Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2025 induction ceremony on Saturday. Watch it below.
The surviving members of Soundgarden — drummer Matt Cameron, guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Ben Shepherd — welcomed the special guests to the stage for the performances. Cantrell played guitar as Momsen took lead on “Rusty Cage,” with the singer even paying tribute to the late Chris Cornell by mimicking some of his movements. Carlile then came out to put her striking vibrato onto “Black Hole Sun,” with Momsen joining in on the iconic refrain.
After the band’s acceptance speeches, there was another tribute performance, as Cornell’s daughter, Toni, was joined by Heart’s Nancy Wilson for an acoustic rendition of “Fell on Black Days.”
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While Carlile may seem like a curious choice for Soundgarden, the Washington state native has history with the grunge legends. She performed with the band at the “I Am The Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell” show at The Forum in Los Angeles on January 16, 2019. Carlile handled vocals “Black Hole Sun” during that show as well, plus Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike” with Chris Stapleton and Brendan O’Brien.
“We wanted to keep it as Seattle-centric as possible and include some people that were there with us in the beginning,” Cameron told Seattle Times about the artists asked to join the band for the performance.
“To have our peers, friends and creative collaborators from here share that with us is very important,” added Thayil in the same Seattle Times story. “It’s very important because it’s part of our identity. We’re not simply ‘rock guys’ in this band Soundgarden. We’re rock guys in this band Soundgarden that helped establish the Seattle scene and the sound. The geography is very important to our identity. It’s where we are, it’s where we came from. It’s who we are.”
Soundgarden’s Rock Hall induction comes with the band’s third nomination; they were previously up for the honor in 2020 and 2023 before finally breaking through this year.
The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class also includes The White Stripes, Bad Company, OutKast, Cyndi Lauper, Chubby Checker, and Joe Cocker in the performer category.
Soundgarden
feat. Jerry Cantrell, Brandi Carlile, & Taylor Momsen
Black Hole Sun
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2025 pic.twitter.com/yMYm8DzmDU— Jeffgarden.com (@ijeffgarden) November 9, 2025