Rock Hall Class of 2025 Roundtable: Snubs, Surprises and More

It’s that time of year again. The incoming class of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees has been announced.

There are seven artists set to be inducted this November: Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden and the White Stripes.

Meanwhile, the Musical Influence Awards will be going to Salt-N-Pepa and Warren Zevon, while the Musical Excellence Awards are given to Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins and Carol Kaye. Finally, Lenny Waronker will be given the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

But when it comes to the core seven performer inductees, we’ve got some thoughts. Below, members of UCR’s staff discuss the snubs and surprises in this year’s class.

1) Who is the most surprising inductee?

Michael Gallucci: Chubby Checker — I figured the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame had given up years ago on inducting the second and third tier of artists from the music’s first few years. Isn’t that where they pull the Musical Influence Award winners from?

Bryan Rolli: My knee-jerk reaction was Chubby Checker, but I don’t think you nominate someone for the first time after 40 years of eligibility without a motive. No, honestly, I’m most surprised by Soundgarden. They’re a no-brainer for the Rock Hall, and long-overdue — which is exactly why I half-expected to see them get passed over for another year, especially when they were up against several other formidable ’90s and ’00s rock acts like Oasis, the Black Crowes and the White Stripes.

Matt Wardlaw: Joe Cocker. I realize he got the big promotional push this year from a bunch of different artists. I’m a longtime fan and he deserves his spot, but there are so many artists (as always) who are not in, I figured he’d probably be stuck on that list of non-inductees forever. I’m sad he isn’t still here to get this recognition personally.

Matthew Wilkening: Chubby Checker, but that’s largely a function of this being a very agreeable class. To answer that question this year you’ve got to nitpick, and he’s essentially a one-hit wonder. A very important one hit wonder, but not quite a match for this career-oriented honor. He’d be perfect for that singles category they introduced (and seemingly abandoned) a few years ago. But really I could care less, it’s not like Checker or any of rock’s early pioneers got anywhere near the respect they deserved while they were alive.

Corey Irwin: Salt-N-Pepa. I like “Shoop” and “Push It” as much as the next guy, but this one was totally out of left field for me. The hip-hop group has been eligible since 2012, but never so much as appeared on the ballot. In fact, I can’t recall ever even seeing them named in any “most snubbed” lists that annually make the rounds. They’re getting in under the always-mysterious Musical Influence Award, which means some pretty loud arguments must have been made behind the scenes.

Nick DeRiso: The easy answer is Chubby Checker, a novelty act from forever ago. The correct answer is White Stripes, a nervy group that led a very welcome return to stripped-down basics. At the same time, however, they had a shooting-star mainstream commercial arc that was over almost as soon as it began in the early 2000s. The Rock Hall hasn’t shown much interest in things of such recent vintage.

Allison Rapp: I think it’s got to be Chubby Checker. He’s fully deserving, mind you, but there were definitely other names on the nominee list that I thought were more likely to be chosen, at least in the performer category.

2) Who is the most surprising exclusion?

Gallucci: Joy Division/New Order — These two bands have influenced more artists and had more of an impact on where music headed than most of the acts being inducted this year.

Rolli: I’m shocked Oasis didn’t make the cut in light of their upcoming reunion tour and general headline-grabbing antics. Prickly, snot-nosed rockers with an anti-establishment streak who are nonetheless adored by critics, finally burying the hatchet to enjoy a stadium-sized victory lap? ChatGPT couldn’t write a better narrative.

Matt Wardlaw: There is so much hate from the critics that I saw circulating regarding Phish. They’ve been dismissed for too many reasons for far too long. To address one point, they have more than proven that they are not just a band that got really lucky when the Grateful Dead stopped touring due to the death of Jerry Garcia. There’s actual talent there and a lot of it. The fact that they were the top choice on the fan vote is the latest visible validation on why they deserved to be inducted and it’s a shame that critical bias kept them off the final list.

Wilkening: Billy Idol, the living embodiment of the ’80s. At his (admittedly rather brief) peak he blended punk, new wave and pop better than anybody this side of Prince, and was one of the early masters of MTV. Also just looking it at from a cynical point of view it seemed like the industry was primed for this to be the year of Idol’s coronation, timed perfectly to match up to his new album, a documentary and his first large-scale headlining tour in decades.

Irwin: I really thought Billy Idol would get in. He’s had some very loud supporters — including Ozzy Osbourne — and he’s seemingly played nice with the Hall, even though they waited an unreasonably long time to put him on the ballot. I still think he gets in one day, but for now the “Rebel Yell” singer remains on the outside looking in.

DeRiso: I’d hoped for Joy Division/New Order (again). Their influence and popularity seem like a match fit for Rock Hall voters. (There’d also be some induction night drama after a falling out with co-founding bassist Peter Hook. Good TV, right?) But, honestly, my hopes weren’t all that high after their snub in 2023. I thought the same thing then.

Rapp: Frankly, I’m a bit surprised Billy Idol didn’t make the cut. Sure, the competition was tough, but given how active he still is in the industry and the overall impact he had on punk, rock and also the world of music video-making, Idol seemed a very strong candidate. I’m also sort of surprised neither Oasis nor the Black Crowes made it in. I thought at least one tumultuous band of brothers from the ’90s would do so.

3) Who are you most glad to see get in?

Gallucci: Warren Zevon, even if he is getting on the somewhat trivial Musical Influence Award, which seems more and more like the Rock Hall’s way of righting voters’ wrongs over the years.

Rolli: It’s about time Soundgarden got their due. They’ve been eligible for 13 years, and they’re every bit as deserving as their fellow grunge inductees Nirvana and Pearl Jam. It’s bittersweet when artists are no longer around to enjoy their accolades, but Chris Cornell nonetheless deserves to be recognized on the grandest scale as a once-in-a-generation performer and vocalist.

Matt Wardlaw: Warren Zevon, Bad Company, Soundgarden and honestly, I’m happy about a lot of this class. Cyndi Lauper is a trailblazer in ways that many might not recognize. I love a lot of things about Cyndi, but for me personally, she made it feel okay to be weird and different from what is considered to be normal. I’ve got endless amounts of respect for that and so many other things.

Wilkening: Cyndi Lauper – a towering figure of the ’80s who has maintained an impressively idiosyncratic and relevant career to this day. Warren Zevon is a close second, and like Judas Priest a few years back it still stings that he didn’t get his deserved “performer category” honor.

Irwin: Soundgarden. Once Chris Cornell died, this moment was always going to be bittersweet. Still, this band definitely deserves celebrating and I’m excited to see their performance. An added bonus: With Soundgarden getting the call, perhaps the fourth member of grunge’s Mt. Rushmore can finally get consideration, Alice in Chains.

DeRiso: They had to open a back door for Warren Zevon (and Carol Kaye and Thom Bell and Nicky Hopkins), but it seems churlish after waiting through more than 30 years of eligibility. Zevon somehow wasn’t even mentioned until 2023. So to paraphrase, enjoy every sandwich – and every (checks notes) Musical Influence Award.

Rapp: Honestly, I’m glad to see Cyndi Lauper get in. (For the record, she’s one of only two women being inducted this year. Meg White of the White Stripes would be the other. Not exactly a diverse playing field on that account, but I digress.) I truly believe that you don’t get to contemporary artists like Chappell Roan or Lady Gaga, just two examples of wildly successful female pop artists who are unafraid of being themselves, without the work Lauper put in. That makes her Rock Hall worthy right there to me.

4) Two of the top three fan vote-getters didn’t get inducted. Should their votes count for more? Why or why not?

Gallucci: No. Fan campaigns stuff the ballots with undeserving acts: Just because a band has thousands of fans, it doesn’t mean they belong in the Rock Hall or are even good. Yes, Phish, this means you.

Rolli: Probably not. The fan vote is helpful for reflecting public sentiment, of which the voting committee could take note when picking their winners. But if you weigh the fan vote too heavily, you run the risk of some ridiculous viral campaign overshadowing the actual task at hand. Relate it to American electoral politics: Everybody hopes for a successful write-in campaign until they learn “Hawk Tuah Girl” may or may not have gotten 75,000 votes. And yes, in this case, Phish is Hawk Tuah Girl.

Matt Wardlaw: I don’t think it should count for more, but it is a disappointing illustration of the divide between what the voters want vs. what the fans — the people who are actually traveling to the Hall — want to see when they get there. The fan vote tends to be a pretty good barometer of how the votes might swing when the final results come out, so to see two of the top three candidates from this year get bypassed is a bummer.

Wilkening: Yes, much more. There’s a snobbery and an anti-heavy metal bias among the Rock Hall voters that needs to be counterbalanced. Give the people what they really want. Up the irons!

Irwin: No, not at all. I always compare the Rock Hall to professional sports halls of fame. Do fans have a say in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame? No. Football, basketball, hockey? No, no, no. That’s because we all know public popularity contests can be easily skewed. Now, I do believe that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s voting process could use a substantial overhaul, but that shouldn’t include adding more power to the fans.

DeRiso: The process can come embarrassingly close to a made-for-TV popularity contest. Genre slots seem to be filled simply to appeal to the widest swath of audience members. If your favorite act doesn’t fit? All the viral ballot-box stuffing (sorry, Phishheads!) in the world clearly won’t get them in.

Rapp: I mean, yes and no. No in the sense that popularity does not equate to talent or overall influence. (There is a comparison that could be made here to political campaigns. Make of that what you will.) But I also can’t help but feel a bit confused as to why the fan vote should be a part of this system at all then? If a fan vote is going to be used – and I’m not opposed to that since I do believe the relationship an artist has with their fans is important in the context of the Rock Hall — why not make a separate, less consequential category for just that?

5) What are your overall thoughts on the 2025 class?

Gallucci: It’s one of the most agreeable classes of recent years. While nobody stands out in the main category, it’s what’s expected at this point: a classic-rock favorite, a forgotten pioneer, a hip-hop act, an artist who warranted induction years ago, an artist with one great album and a couple of bands that have kept rock ‘n’ roll’s spirit alive in the ’90s and ’00s. Plus, the Musical Excellence Award winners — Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins and Carol Kaye – are all kings and queens of their fields.

Rolli: Honestly … pretty good! The Rock Hall largely stuck to its roots while pushing the boundaries of “rock ‘n’ roll” with a few choice inclusions. Bad Company and Joe Cocker were long-overdue holdouts from the classic rock era; Soundgarden and the White Stripes are bonafide Gen X rock stars; Cyndi Lauper is an innovative pop star who embraces glam rock aesthetics; Outkast is a generation-defining hip-hop act that’s worthy of the honor; and Chubby Checker, well, he supplies the vibes. It’s enough to pacify me for a few months until I start complaining about Iron Maiden’s exclusion again.

Matt Wardlaw: Despite my feelings on how the fan vote shook out, it’s a pretty solid class when you look at the main category of performers being inducted. These are all artists who have contributed important things to the evolution of music. Like Foreigner in 2024, I wasn’t necessarily expecting to see Bad Company get the nod this year. I appreciate that. It’s also really great to see Warren Zevon get a sliver of recognition. It’s a shame that Billy Idol didn’t make the cut, but hopefully we’ll see Billy and Phish make it in next year. That would be a fun jam.

Wilkening: It’s a very respectable, easily defended group of inductees. Not sure it’s going to make for the most exciting show but then again there are three potential reunions that could turn that around pretty quick – White Stripes, Outkast and a sadly Cornell-less Soundgarden. As others have noted here, there’s a sense of demographic box-checking at play, and it’s weird that country music seems to have lost their seat at the table.

Irwin: Overall, I’m pretty excited. Several of my personal favorites made the cut, along with a couple of unexpected yet intriguing additions. There’s also a nice variety in the styles of music each honoree makes, and I think the table is set for some dynamic performances at the induction ceremony six months from now.

DeRiso: It is as it has been lately: All of the demographic boxes got checked. I’m hearted by one subplot: They reached back to classic rock’s heyday (Joe Cocker, Bad Company, Nicky Hopkins) while continuing to turn toward very worthy contributors from the more recent past (Soundgarden, Cyndi Lauper, White Stripes). Maybe that bolsters Oasis’ next candidacy.

Rapp: I’d say this is a pretty safe class of inductees, there’s a little something of everything. Am I wowed? No. Do I think all of the inductees are worthy? Yes. Am I looking forward to seeing what kind of ceremony show this lineup puts on? For sure. Will I campaign harder for Oasis next year? Definitely maybe.