Soundgarden were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on November 8, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Original bassist Hiro Yamamoto joined Ben Shepherd, guitarist Kim Thayil and drummer Matt Cameron to accept the honor, which also recognized the late Chris Cornell. During “Black Hole Sun,” both bassists played together.
Yamamoto had left Soundgarden in 1989, before the band recorded Badmotorfinger and Superunknown. His return therefore involved learning material he hadn’t helped create. Speaking to ABC Audio on the ceremony’s red carpet, he described the task as making that music feel like Soundgarden through the connection between the players. Shepherd explained how they would divide the bass parts: he would take the higher register, while Yamamoto, in Shepherd’s words, “gets to do the low end.” The ceremony introduced a Soundgarden lineup with two bassists playing simultaneously.
Jim Carrey’s introduction reached back to a different encounter with the band. In his induction speech, he recalled requesting Soundgarden as the musical guest when he first hosted Saturday Night Live in 1996. He described standing in front of them during a rehearsal of “Pretty Noose” and receiving Cornell’s Fender Telecaster after the show, signed by the whole band. His connection to the musicians included a keepsake from that night, which he brought into his account of what Soundgarden meant to him.
Cornell’s eldest daughter, Lily Cornell Silver, joined Carrey and introduced the performance. Taylor Momsen took the lead on “Rusty Cage,” with Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready joining Thayil on guitar. Momsen already had substantial history with the musicians: The Pretty Reckless had opened Soundgarden’s final tour in 2017, and she had performed their music at the Cornell tribute in 2019 and the Taylor Hawkins tribute in 2022. For the induction, she sang a song from Badmotorfinger, the first Soundgarden album recorded with Shepherd.
“Black Hole Sun” expanded the lineup further. Brandi Carlile joined Momsen on vocals, Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell added another guitar, and Yamamoto played alongside Shepherd. For Thayil, the participation of those Seattle peers reflected the musical community they had built together. The guest arrangement also gave Yamamoto a place inside a song released after his departure, bringing the founding bassist into the band’s later repertoire.
The acceptance speeches returned to Cornell’s role within that collaboration. In his speech, Thayil remembered how Cornell encouraged members who hesitated to share an idea: “Let’s just try it out and see.” Yamamoto also spoke about the family history that had shaped him, recalling his parents’ imprisonment as Japanese Americans during World War II and warning against repeating that history.
After the band’s speeches, Carrey introduced Cornell’s younger daughter, Toni. She sang “Fell on Black Days” with Nancy Wilson accompanying her on acoustic guitar. Wilson’s participation carried another connection to the Hall’s history: Cornell had inducted Heart in 2013. At Soundgarden’s ceremony, she accompanied his daughter on one of the songs he had written for Superunknown.
