The 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced, and among them is legendary Seattle grunge band Soundgarden.
Guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron, late vocalist Chris Cornell, and bassist Ben Shepherd are being included as part of Soundgarden’s Rock Hall induction, as is the band’s original bassist Hiro Yamamoto, who played on their first two EPs and first two albums, including their Grammy-nominated debut, Ultramega OK.
Following the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame news, Chris Cornell’s widow, Vicky Cornell, took to Instagram to express her gratitude to the organization, as well as “all the fans who voted [whose] constant love and support keep his legacy alive.” She added that moments like this are “always bittersweet” but believes her late husband “would be so honored and it is well past due and beyond well deserved!”
Thayil has since spoken with Billboard about the honor, which they were actually passed up for in 2020 and 2023. “I kinda came from a subculture of rock that didn’t quite get what all the fuss is about,” Thayil told the outlet. “Back in the ’80s, ’90s, when the Hall started, I probably was not alone in being part of a punk rock or indie metal scene that had an aversion to the idea. It was kind of hard to wrap my head around both a qualitative appraisal and a quantitative assessment.”
Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron is already a Rock Hall member
Notably, Cameron has already been inducted into the Rock Hall — as a member of Pearl Jam — and Chris Cornell previously inducted Heart into the organization, back in 2013. These experiences, Thayil said, changed the way he sees the Rock Hall.
“Chris lived the experience and said the enthusiasm of the fans was eye-opening for him, and understanding how important that was — and Matt seconded it,” he said. “In so many ways the fans got some kind of validation by having a band that was important to their heart and that they championed get (the honor).”
“I know I felt that way about bands I believed in, whether the MC5 or the Ramones or KISS. Chris explained that to me, and that kind of changed things,” Thayil added. “Plus I heard this from the Nirvana guys, the Pearl Jam guys, other friends and other bands. So it really changed my perspective.”
Who will sing with Soundgarden?
Finally, Thayil commented on how the band will approach having someone step in to sing with them during the big ceremony. “It’s a high bar, not just technically, but emotionally,” he said. “There has to be a reverence for the missing brother and founder, and there also has to be reverence for the legacy — both for Chris’s work and Chris’s creativity, as well as the regard and reverence we have for ourselves collectively and for each other.”
“Some suggestions have come out; I’m not prepared to share that,” Thayil continued, “but I’ll just say it’s a higher bar than the usual composite of guitarists and drummers or singers.” Sadly, Cornell died in 2017, with officials ruling his as a suicide.
The 2025 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Nov. 8 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It will stream live on Disney+, with an edited version airing on ABC at a later date.
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