Tedeschi Trucks Band closed out the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater on Saturday night with an emotional and electrifying tribute to the late Joe Cocker.
After a video honoring Cocker’s life and legacy, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks kicked off the tribute with “The Letter”, Cocker’s first top-10 hit, with Nathaniel Rateliff joining in to add his soulful vocals to the performance. Originally recorded by the Box Tops, the song was released as the single for Cocker’s iconic live album, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, in 1970. Bryan Adams, who inducted Cocker into the Hall of Fame, noted the late singer’s remarkable ability to transform covers into his own signature songs, explaining that even Paul McCartney acknowledged how he had reimagined the Beatles‘ “With a Little Help From My Friends” into a soul anthem.
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The tribute continued with Teddy Swims joining TTB for “Feelin’ Alright”, the Traffic song that Cocker made famous in 1969. But it was the soul-stirring finale that followed that brought the ceremony to a climactic close.
The evening culminated with an all-star performance of “With a Little Help From My Friends” featuring Tedeschi Trucks Band, Nathaniel Rateliff, Teddy Swims, Bryan Adams, newly inducted Rock Hall member Cyndi Lauper, The Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson, and more.
The performance held special significance for Tedeschi Trucks Band, who has long championed Cocker’s music. The band first honored Cocker at Virginia’s Lockn’ Festival in 2015, performing all three songs—”The Letter”, “Feelin’ Alright”, and “With a Little Help From My Friends”—as part of its comprehensive “Mad Dogs & Englishmen: Celebrate Joe Cocker” tribute set, which featured the late Leon Russel (musical director and producer of Mad Dogs & Englishmen) and other original Mad Dogs members Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, and Chris Stainton, plus Chris Robinson, Warren Haynes, Anders Osborne, Dave Mason, Widespread Panic‘s John Bell and Sunny Ortiz, and other special guests.
That performance, which the band recently released under the title Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited (LIVE AT LOCKN’), proved to be more than a one-time homage. “The Letter” has remained a setlist staple for TTB over the years, while “With a Little Help From My Friends” became a recurring closer during the band’s recent co-headline run with Gov’t Mule, with Warren Haynes repeatedly joining TTB for the Joe Cocker version as a fitting finale.
Tedeschi Trucks Band With Nathaniel Rateliff, Teddy Swims, Bryan Adams, Cyndi Lauper, & Chris Robinson – “With A Little Help From My Friends” (The Beatles) – 11/8/25