Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, White Stripes Among Rock Hall of Fame Inductees

Inductee Jack White of The White Stripes speaks during the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, at LA Live in Los Angeles. (AP)
Inductee Jack White of The White Stripes speaks during the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, at LA Live in Los Angeles. (AP)
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Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, White Stripes Among Rock Hall of Fame Inductees

Inductee Jack White of The White Stripes speaks during the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, at LA Live in Los Angeles. (AP)
Inductee Jack White of The White Stripes speaks during the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, at LA Live in Los Angeles. (AP)

Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, the White Stripes and Soundgarden were among this year's inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, adding their names to the pantheon of music's most esteemed and beloved acts.

New Yorker Lauper, who burst onto the pop scene with colorful punk looks and infectious tunes like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,True Colors" and "Time After Time," was inducted by "Pink Pony Club" singer Chappell Roan.

Praising her "four-octave range" and unapologetic style, Roan thanked Lauper for being an icon for any artist who may be called "too much, too loud, too eccentric or all of the above -- their honesty becomes their greatest strength."

To induct Detroit rock band The White Stripes -- known for sports arena favorite "Seven Nation Army" and "Fell in Love with a Girl," among others -- singer Iggy Pop gave an exuberant speech peppered with curse words and his own screeching impressions of the band's raucous sound.

"The White Stripes music was coming from a foundation of love, not revolution," Pop said.

Singer-guitarist Jack White accepted on behalf of himself and drummer Meg White, who did not attend. He named a long list of industry heavies and bands before adding: "To the homeless and the powerless and the forgotten, we always say thank you."

Other inducted American performers included Atlanta's hip-hop duo Outkast, who topped charts with "Hey Ya,Ms. Jackson" and "The Way You Move," and Seattle's grunge band Soundgarden, who had hits with "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman."

English singer Joe Cocker, who died in 2014, was inducted posthumously to honor his bluesy music, including "You Are So Beautiful," his cover of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" and the Grammy-winning duet with Jennifer Warnes "Up Where We Belong."

Other inductees included arena rockers Bad Company, who sang "Can't Get Enough," and "The Twist" singer Chubby Checker.

Groundbreaking New York hip-hop trio Salt-N-Pepa was honored with a Musical Influence Award for their hit songs "Push It" and "Shoop," which celebrate women's independence in a male-dominated genre.

"These three women are the bricklayers to the foundation that holds hip-hop together," Grammy-winning singer Missy Elliott told the audience before introducing their performance. "They gave us their shoulders to stand on."

English session pianist Nicky Hopkins was honored with the Musical Excellence Award for his work with superstars including The Rolling Stones, The Who, David Bowie and The Beatles.

"That song started off as a kind of slowish song, and then Nicky started playing this samba piano with this percussion, that's like the hook of the song," Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger said of Hopkins's work on the song "Sympathy for the Devil."

Along with awards and heartfelt acceptance speeches, the event featured performances by Elton John; Bryan Adams; Olivia Rodrigo; Twenty One Pilots; Doja Cat; Tyler, the Creator; and many more.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, now features an exhibit with artifacts and memorabilia from this year's inductees.



In Hollywood, AI's No Match for Creativity, Say Top Executives

US filmmaker Steven Spielberg says he has never used AI in his award-winning films, and he doesn't support AI if it takes work from creatives. Jean Baptiste Lacroix / AFP
US filmmaker Steven Spielberg says he has never used AI in his award-winning films, and he doesn't support AI if it takes work from creatives. Jean Baptiste Lacroix / AFP
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In Hollywood, AI's No Match for Creativity, Say Top Executives

US filmmaker Steven Spielberg says he has never used AI in his award-winning films, and he doesn't support AI if it takes work from creatives. Jean Baptiste Lacroix / AFP
US filmmaker Steven Spielberg says he has never used AI in his award-winning films, and he doesn't support AI if it takes work from creatives. Jean Baptiste Lacroix / AFP

Artificial intelligence is transforming Hollywood at a pace that has sent shockwaves through creative industries, but human creativity will always prevail, a leading executive at the cutting edge of that change told AFP.

The disruption was a dominant theme at this week's South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas where veteran director Steven Spielberg made clear he was drawing a line in the sand.

"I've never used AI on any of my films yet. We have a writer's room. All the seats are occupied," Spielberg said. "I am not for AI if it replaces a creative individual."

Joshua Davies, chief innovation officer of Artlist -- an AI video platform that has most recently been positioning itself as a supplier of creative tools to filmmakers -- told AFP the technology would never eclipse the human creative.

If given the choice between something made using an AI told by a techie and a creative, "I know which one I would rather watch at the end," said Davies, who founded video editing software company FXhome before it was acquired by Artlist in 2021.

Davies acknowledged the industry's anxiety was not unfounded, with new video models having "struck fear in the hearts of everybody" -- not just over copyright and personality infringement, but over the fundamental question of how film and television production will look in a matter of years.

"If I was bringing out an Iron Man movie in 2027, 2028 -- would I be going to multiple visual effects houses, would I expect them to be utilizing AI? We're all kind of working out our way through that," he said.

Davies described the platform's AI video tools as a way to "fill in the bits that you can't shoot, or didn't shoot, or you don't have the budget to shoot," rather than a wholesale substitution for going out on location.

- 'Holy grail' -

Yet the timing is charged. Editors, visual effects artists and other Hollywood professions have watched the rapid advance of generative AI with alarm, fearing that tools capable of producing broadcast-quality footage at a fraction of traditional costs could hollow out entire job categories.

Major studios are actively evaluating how AI can be integrated into production pipelines, foreshadowing significant workforce changes across an industry that has already endured a bruising period following the covid pandemic and writers' and actors' strikes of 2023.

Artlist made headlines in February when it produced a Super Bowl LX spot in under five days using its own products, at a fraction of the multi-million-dollar cost typical of Big Game advertising.

Davies was keen to push back on the narrative that the ad represented the future of production without human involvement.

That wasn't what it was, he said. It was creatives "using the tool to get the very best out of it."

A self-described "techie guy," Davies said the platform's current obsession is on giving creators nuanced control over creating or editing footage -- something he described as the company's "holy grail."

Existing models, he said, handle simple static shots reasonably well but struggle with complex camera movements and consistent performance across multiple takes.

You can prompt an elaborate shot, but for now "you'll get something random" that you can't work with.

On cost, Davies cautioned against unrealistic expectations, suggesting AI would reduce production expenses significantly but not eliminate them.

Davies said his long-term hope was that AI would serve as a leveling force for independent filmmakers and content creators who currently lack the budgets to realize their ambitions.

"There are definitely YouTubers who make some of the best action work out there on no budget," he said.

"AI will level that playing field completely -- the story will be what matters."

He struck a cautiously optimistic note on the creative industry's direction, dismissing the most dystopian predictions.

"The idea that no one works at the end of it is the bit that doesn't hold any water with me," he said.

"There's been more and more of everything, not less and less -- and the cream rises to the top anyway, because the human element is what we crave."


BTS Say They’re ‘Just Country Kids’ Ahead of Comeback Mega-Gig

People walk past a billboard promoting a comeback concert of K-pop boy group BTS at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on March 17, 2026. (AFP)
People walk past a billboard promoting a comeback concert of K-pop boy group BTS at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on March 17, 2026. (AFP)
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BTS Say They’re ‘Just Country Kids’ Ahead of Comeback Mega-Gig

People walk past a billboard promoting a comeback concert of K-pop boy group BTS at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on March 17, 2026. (AFP)
People walk past a billboard promoting a comeback concert of K-pop boy group BTS at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on March 17, 2026. (AFP)

K-pop megastars BTS still see themselves as "country kids from South Korea", according to a trailer for a new documentary released Tuesday ahead of their huge comeback concert this weekend.

More than a quarter of a million fans are expected to throng central Seoul on Saturday for BTS's open-air gig, the first performance in almost four years by the boy band seen as the biggest in the world.

A day before, the group's fifth studio album, "ARIRANG" -- named after a beloved folk song about longing and separation, something of an unofficial national anthem of South Korea -- will be released.

The documentary, "BTS: The RETURN", will be released on Netflix on March 27, chronicling the seven-member group's comeback after completing their military service, widely seen as a grueling experience for young conscripts.

"We are still just country kids from South Korea," the group's leader RM says in the trailer.

"We are trying to find out what makes us BTS," the 31-year-old added.

At the height of their fame prior to their hiatus, BTS frequently ranked among the most popular artists on music streaming platform Spotify, mixing with the likes of Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber.

After visiting the White House, releasing hugely successful English-language albums and performing at famous venues around the world, the group has chosen a historic stage at home for the grand comeback this weekend.

The concert will be staged at Seoul's sweeping Gwanghwamun Square, near the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The area is also where many of South Korea's political protests have taken place, including those following former president Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law in December 2024.

The trailer featured the melody from "Arirang" the folk song, which is associated by many with themes of resilience and enduring longing.

"Arirang is a song imbued with han," an unidentified BTS member says in the trailer, referring to the Korean term for an unresolved grief rooted in the country's history, including war, division and family separation.


Oscar-Winner Sean Penn Skips Ceremony to Visit Kyiv

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on March 16, 2026, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meets with US actor Sean Penn (R) at his office in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on March 16, 2026, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meets with US actor Sean Penn (R) at his office in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
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Oscar-Winner Sean Penn Skips Ceremony to Visit Kyiv

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on March 16, 2026, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meets with US actor Sean Penn (R) at his office in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on March 16, 2026, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meets with US actor Sean Penn (R) at his office in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)

Sean Penn, who won an Oscar for best supporting actor for "One Battle After Another" on Sunday, was in Ukraine on Monday where he met President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for the war-torn country.

An AFP reporter saw the "Mystic River" star getting out of a black car in central Kyiv earlier Monday, wearing sunglasses and carrying a box of cigarettes.

Penn -- a vocal advocate for Ukraine who has visited the country several times -- on Sunday won his third acting Oscar but was not at the ceremony.

"We can say that he's in Ukraine, but it's his personal visit; that's how he sees it, that he needs to be in Ukraine," a senior Ukrainian official told AFP, adding: "He just wants to support Ukraine."

Penn -- who co-directed a 2023 documentary about Zelensky -- met the Ukrainian president on Monday.

"Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is," Zelensky said on social media, posting a picture of the pair sat down in the president's office.

"You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today," Zelensky said.

In an interview with AFP in February, Zelensky listed "One Battle After Another", starring Penn, among his most recently watched movies and said he "liked it".

A second source told AFP that the actor was also "planning to go to the front" in eastern Ukraine.

The film Penn co-directed, an admiring portrait of Zelensky about his rise from comedian to war leader when Russia invaded in 2022, premiered at the Berlin film festival in 2023.

In 2025, Penn and rock star Bono made an impassioned plea at the Cannes film festival for the West to stand by Ukraine, posing for pictures on the red carpet with Ukrainian soldiers.