LOS ANGELES, California – The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, held on November 8, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, was a landmark event celebrating musical innovation and genre fusion. While the night featured iconic inductions, including hip-hop trailblazers OutKast, it was a performance by Janelle Monáe that captivated attendees and was described by many as the ceremony’s defining moment.
Monáe’s segment was part of a dynamic, star-studded tribute to newly inducted duo OutKast (Big Boi and André 3000), who were presented by actor and musician Donald Glover. Glover’s induction speech praised the duo’s influence, noting their music “was able to distill the polarizing nature of being not just from the south, not just being Black, but being a human in a very polarizing and contradicting world.”
The Performance That Changed the Ceremony
While initial reports mistakenly suggested Monáe performed her 2010 hit “Tightrope,” the overwhelming consensus from eyewitness accounts and subsequent reports confirmed she delivered a highly theatrical and electrifying rendition of OutKast’s Grammy-winning megahit, “Hey Ya!”
Despite the song substitution, the performance retained the innovative energy that the source text attributed to a “Tightrope” set, with Monáe utilizing her signature style of precise choreography, vocal prowess, and a touch of theatricality. She famously performed an acoustic guitar version of “Hey Ya!” (the track from OutKast’s 2003 album The Love Below), encouraging the crowd to “shake it, shake, shake it” and transforming the song into a vibrant, high-energy spectacle.
Monáe’s participation was particularly fitting, given her deep connection to the inductees. Her 2010 hit, “Tightrope,” the title track from her debut album The ArchAndroid, notably features Big Boi on the original recording, underscoring a long-standing creative mentorship and collaboration that bridges the eras of Southern funk, soul, and rap.
Cross-Generational Tributes
The OutKast tribute medley, led by Big Boi (as André 3000 did not participate in the performance segment), became the centerpiece of the evening, demonstrating the group’s massive influence on contemporary music.
Key performances in the medley included:
- Big Boi and J.I.D. kicking off the segment with “ATLiens.”
- Doja Cat delivering a sly and soulful take on “Ms. Jackson.”
- Tyler, The Creator with a high-octane performance of “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad).”
- Janelle Monáe with her show-stopping take on “Hey Ya!”
- The finale, “The Whole World,” featuring Big Boi, Killer Mike, and the rest of the night’s performers.
The entire event, which honored a diverse class that also included Soundgarden, The White Stripes, Cyndi Lauper, and Salt-N-Pepa, emphasized cross-generational collaboration. Monáe’s performance, hailed as a vibrant bridge between the genres and a symbol of OutKast’s evolving legacy, was a testament to the night’s theme of musical boundary-breaking.
@rockhall @janellemonae showed us how to shake it, shake, shake it with an incredible performance of one of @outkast’s biggest hits “Hey Ya!” #RockHall2025 #Outkast #JanelleMonae #HeyYa