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Find Salt-N-Pepa in the 2025 Inductees Exhibit

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RUN DMC was a group of firsts. The trio established “street-style,” shattered boundaries between rap and rock and transformed the sound and audience of hip-hop.

RUN DMC

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, the first rap group inducted into the Rock Hall, elevated hip-hop from party music to a weapon for social change.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

As one of rap’s first breakouts, LL COOL J created the template for the hip-hop superstar. With raw battle rhymes and intimate recitations, he pioneered the rap ballad. 

LL Cool J

Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott holds the record for most platinum albums by a woman rapper. She forged new paths by unapologetically owning her body and her Blackness. 

Missy Elliott

Nine-time Grammy-winner Mary J. Blige, the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul,” created a new R&B template by embracing both vulnerability and strength.

Mary J. Blige

With a four-octave voice, quirky glam style and defiant individuality, Cyndi Lauper shaped the ‘80s and beyond. As a steadfast LGBTQIA+ advocate, Lauper is an enduring icon.

Cyndi Lauper

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Sampling the horns from the ‘60s Stax hit, with sharp, updated lyrics and powerful percussion breaks, this is a highlight of the duo’s breakthrough debut.

Tramp

One of Salt-N-Pepa's signature songs began as a B-side, but, upon re-release, went platinum. With a James Brown sample and a Kinks nod, this one took off.

Push It

Sampling the Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There,” this international hit dared to address what everybody was thinking about.  

Let’s Talk About Sex

Salt-N-Pepa and vocal group En Vogue deliver a sexy, funky ‘90s classic, a rap/soul tribute to the few good men in their lives.

Whatta Man (w/ En Vogue)

Salt-N-Pepa’s first Grammy win is a fist-pumping, anti-slut-shaming anthem delivered way ahead of its time.

None of Your Business

Fierce Fun First Ladies of Rap

Sandra “Pepa” Denton wore this Mary’s Fashion-designed jacket in the “Push It” music video, a concert performance of the song featuring DJ Spinderella and Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor on synthesizer and backing vocals.

“Push It” was certified platinum in the U.S. and U.K. and nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone  included it on their “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list. 

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**Impact**

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Inductee Hero (60)

**Influence**

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MC Lyte

Lil Kim

Nicki Minaj

Queen Latifah

Destiny’s Child

MC Sha-Rock (Funky 4+1)

Roxanne Shanté

The Sequence

Afrika Bambaataa

The Sugarhill Gang

**Induction**

 Medley: "Push It" and more

salt n pepa

**As the first major all-female rap group to go both gold and platinum, and the first to win a Grammy, Salt-N-Pepa changed the male-dominated game.** With a unique, flamboyant style and outspoken, feminine-centric messages, all woven into an edgy-yet-accessible hip-hop/R&B blend, they redefined women’s roles in rap. Unafraid of touchy issues like AIDS, safe sex and female sexual desire, they set a template for countless future rappers. 

This is the signature that appears on the inductee’s plaque at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to officially commemorate their induction.

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Inductees

With a flamboyant style and outspoken, feminine-centric messages, all woven into an edgy-yet-accessible hip-hop/R&B blend, Salt-N-Pepa redefined women’s roles in rap. 

Salt N Pepa

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This award honors non-performing industry professionals who, through their dedicated belief and support of artists, have had a major influence on the creative development and growth of music.

Ahmet Ertegun Award

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{{year}} **Inductees**

This award recognizes individuals who have dedicated their lives to crafting influential, important music infused with originality, achieving a level of timeless distinction.

Musical Excellence

This award acknowledges artists whose music and performance style have directly influenced, inspired, and evolved rock & roll and music culture.

Musical Influence

Celebrating the iconic artists who have created music whose originality, impact, and influence has changed the course of rock & roll.

Performer

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Sorry Ms. Jackson: A Hip-Hop Symphony

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A Rock B-Side Turned West Coast Anthem

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From CBGB’s to Hip-Hop’s Mainstream

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A Mother’s Love Scored in Soul and Hip-Hop

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From Teen Pop to Timeless Standard

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The MJ Anthem That Took Over the Dancefloor

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The Guitar Riff That Shaped Generations

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The Fan Vote joins the ballots of more than a thousand historians, music industry professionals, and artists to select each year’s induction class.

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The Class of {{YEAR}}

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PRESS RELEASE

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Beatles

John, Paul, George, & Ringo kickstarted the seismic British Invasion that swept the U.S. in the ‘60s and rewrote the rules of what performers could be and do.

The Beatles

AC:DC

Since 1975, AC/DC has carved out a niche between punky hard rock and heavy metal, inspiring countless musicians with crank-up-the-volume radio staples 

AC/DC

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The Rolling Stones have married their love of blues and American R&B to a vast array of styles and genres. The constant throughline has been the band’s swagger.

The Rolling Stones

Bon Jovi

Bursting out of New Jersey in 1984, Bon Jovi’s irresistible combo of heavy metal and pop brought multiple chart-topping hits and worldwide rock stardom. 

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Hard rock and heavy metal as we know it wouldn't exist without Led Zeppelin, one of the most popular and innovative rock bands ever.

Led Zeppelin

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There's a reason the Eagles' "best of" album was the first album ever to be certified platinum.

The Eagles

Prince

Prince redefined artistic possibility, mixing rock, funk, soul, pop and jazz into a genre-defying blend that both challenged and satisfied audiences. 

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Queen was one of the most popular, ambitious and beloved classic rock bands ever.

Queen

Bruce

Bruce Springsteen rose from Jersey street poet to socially conscious cultural icon, an artist whose voice spoke to—and for—multiple generations worldwide. 

Bruce Springsteen

Pink

Architects of two major music movements – psychedelic rock and progressive rock – Pink Floyd were renowned for biting political, social and emotional commentary. 

Pink Floyd

Maonna

Madonna demolished pop boundaries, boldly redefining what it means to be a rock star. She proved art could be both controversial and commercially successful.

Madonna

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Janis Joplin had one of the most powerful voices of the Sixties. Her voice is equal parts tough and vulnerable, a shout into the void that resonated with a generation.

Janis Joplin

Fleetwood

Fleetwood Mac delivered some of the  most indelible songs of the ‘70s, creating a distinctive “California sound” that endures as a sonic touchstone for countless bands.

Fleetwood Mac

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The first female-fronted hard rock band, Heart proved women can rock with the best of them. Heart's mix of hard rock and folk yielded one of the longest lasting and most commercially successful bands of all time.

Heart

Tina Turner worked hard to reimagine the role of a Black woman in rock and roll — one not related to the edges.

Tina Turner

aretha

The first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Aretha Franklin was an artist of passion, sophistication and command, whose recordings remain anthems that defined soul music.

Aretha Franklin

Cher

Pop’s enduring icon – and the only woman with No. 1 hits across seven decades. With her distinctive contralto voice, Cher mastered folk-pop, rock, disco, and electropop.

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With her prodigious songwriting talent, vocal and instrumental prowess, charisma, and trademark style, Dolly Parton has achieved immense global success as a musician and blazed a trail for generations of artists to come.

Dolly Parton

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts smash genre (and gender) boundaries by fusing punk, glam and heavy metal with '50s and '60s rock & roll.

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Elvis

The first anointed King of Rock & Roll. Elvis Presley ignited a revolution with his firebrand take on blues, country, R&B, pop, bluegrass and gospel. 

Elvis Presley

Billy Joel comes off as such a determinedly average guy that it's tempting to undervalue his extraordinary gifts.

Billy Joel

The founder and creative beacon of Elektra Records. Jac Holzman's diverse taste and engineering knowledge yielded a catalogue of music ranging from classical to hard rock to simply sound effects, all of the highest quality.

James Brown

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Van Halen kicked the American hard rock scene into high gear in the late Seventies, became rock heroes on MTV in the Eighties, and gave rise to a steady stream of shredders and trailblazers ever since.

Van Halen

Michael Jackson redefined both the sound and look of pop, worldwide. Transcending  cultural and racial boundaries, his music continues to influence generations.

Michael Jackson

Jimi Hendrix at the Fillmore West, 1968 February 1 (68034)

Jimi Hendrix was the most gifted instrumentalist of all time.

Jimi Hendrix Experience

The window-breaking, earth-quaking, soul-shaking Who.

The Who

The unmistakeable vocal timbre of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2019 Inductee Stevie Nicks’s voice has dominated rock.

Induction

Inducted by Missy Elliott

Acceptance Speech

Impact

They had the records, but they also made us want to dress like them… They also danced and were the reason that I got into rapping.

Fierce Fun First Ladies of Rap

Fierce Fun First Ladies of Rap

Tramp

Push It

Let’s Talk About Sex

Whatta Man (w/ En Vogue)

None of Your Business

Jacket Fitfor aRap Queen

Jacket Fitfor aRap Queen

Influence

Influences

Influenced

Shop Salt-N-Pepa and More

Shop Salt-N-Pepa and More

more from
the hall

explore the hall of fame

explore the hall of fame

Induction

Inducted by Missy Elliott

Acceptance Speech

Impact

They had the records, but they also made us want to dress like them… They also danced and were the reason that I got into rapping.

Fierce Fun First Ladies of Rap

Fierce Fun First Ladies of Rap

Tramp

Push It

Let’s Talk About Sex

Whatta Man (w/ En Vogue)

None of Your Business

Jacket Fitfor aRap Queen

Jacket Fitfor aRap Queen

Influence

Influences

Influenced

Shop Salt-N-Pepa and More

Shop Salt-N-Pepa and More

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explore the hall of fame

explore the hall of fame

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