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Soundgarden were officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame over the weekend, with a line-up of their friends, family and fellow Seattle music legends delivering epic performances to celebrate.

UPDATE: Two of the three Soundgarden Rock Hall performances are now up on YouTube in full, and in much better quality than the fan-shot clips doing the rounds earlier this week. If you’ve already seen the snippets, do yourself a favour and rewatch them properly - Brandi Carlile and Jerry Cantrell’s haunting take on Black Hole Sun, and Nancy Wilson with Toni Cornell’s stunning version of Fell on Black Days both look and sound epic.

Taylor Momsen from The Pretty Reckless joined Soundgarden on stage, alongside Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready to kick things off with the band’s 1992 song ‘Rusty Cage.’

The performance was objectively great - and Taylor’s vocals sounded outstanding. Unfortunately, it's the one performance that hasn't been officially uploaded to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's YouTube channel yet.

Brandi Carlile, who’s a Seattle native, then teamed up with Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell for an emotional rendition of ‘Black Hole Sun’ that had the entire room hooked. Momsen joined her for vocals on that one, too. 

Brandi Carlile Performs Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun" Live:

To close the performances, Heart’s Nancy Wilson performed ‘Fell on Black Days’ with Chris Cornell’s eldest daughter Toni on vocals. The stripped-back acoustic version was raw, powerful and packed with emotion. Toni has a striking resemblance to her father, and a beautiful voice.

Toni Cornell Honors Chris Cornell with Soundgarden "Fell on Black Days":

Before the performances, guitarist Kim Thayil said it was important to have their Seattle peers involved, calling it “part of our identity.” He added, “We’re not just rock guys in Soundgarden. We’re rock guys who helped build the Seattle sound.”

Earlier in the evening, Jim Carrey inducted the band with a mix of chaos and heart, delivering a speech that had everyone laughing one minute and tearing up the next. 

The surviving members then took the stage to accept the honour, paying tribute to their late frontman Chris Cornell and thanking the fans who’ve stuck with them for four decades.

The whole night felt like a beautiful tribute to Cornell and Soundgarden. 

Recently, Taylor Momsen opened up about how the loss of Chris Cornell marked the start of a dark period for her, making her performances even more poignant.

Published by Raynor Perreau

10 Nov 2025