The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will make fans of some long-neglected acts very happy when the class of 2025 is inducted later this year.
Among this year’s inductees — announced Sunday night during ABC’s American Idol — are first-time nominees Bad Company, Joe Cocker and Chubby Checker, along with Soundgarden on its third go-round and the White Stripes and Cyndi Lauper, each on their second. The hip-hop duo Outkast fills out the Performers category, also on its first nomination.
Longtime slight Warren Zevon — who passed away during 2003 and was nominated just once, in 2023 — will receive one of two Musical Influence Awards, with Salt-N-Pepa receiving the other. Musical Excellence Awards will be presented to Carol Kaye, bassist for Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew and the late pianist Nicky Hopkins, who both worked with numerous Rock Hall inductees themselves, and to celebrated Philadelphia soul songwriter and producer Thom Bell.
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Lenny Waronker, the veteran Warner Bros. and DreamWorks label executive and producer whose signings included Randy Newman, James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, Rickie Lee Jones and a great many others.
Acts are eligible for the Rock Hall 25 years after their first commercial recordings. Checker has been street legal since 1984, Cocker and Zevon since 1994, Bad Company since 1999 and Soundgarden since 2012.
The Performers list includes five of the seven top finishers on the Rock Hall’s Fan Ballot. Bad Company was second with 279,012 votes and Lauper ranked fourth with 235,438, followed by Cocker (232,063) Soundgarden (231,611) and Checker (201,835). Phish had the most fan votes with 327,304, while Billy Idol was third with 258,718 but neither made the final list. This year’s other nominees included the Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis and Mana.
The Performers category is selected by a voting body of music industry professionals, while the fan ballot comprises a single vote for each of the top seven acts. The other categories are selected by committees within the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.
The induction ceremony will take place Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and stream live on Disney+. It will be available on Hulu the next day and will be edited for an ABC special to air at a later date.
In a statement, Rock Hall Chairman John Sykes said that, “Each of these inductees created their own sound and attitude that had a profound impact on culture and helped to change the course of Rock & Roll forever. Their music gave a voice to generations and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”
The 2025 inductees cover a lot of bases, from Checker’s first singles in 1959 — and, of course, his 1961 classic “The Twist” — to Soundgarden’s work until frontman Chris Cornell’s suicide in 2017. Salt-N-Pepa remains active, while Lauper is in the midst of a farewell tour. Jack White has been pursuing a solo career since the White Stripes disbanded during 2011 — and is currently on tour in North America — while Andre 3000 and Big Boi have been working on their own outside of Outkast since 2007 (and a short 2014 20th anniversary reunion).
Hopkins, whose resume reads like a who’s-who of classic rock luminaries, passed away during 1994, while Cocker died 20 years later. Bad Company — whose bassist Boz Burrell passed in 2006, has been inactive since 2019, though frontman Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke are still working; a tribute album is due out later this year, and Rodgers is writing a memoir.
The American Idol featured finalists performing songs by Rock Hall members along with a guest mentor appearance by 2000 inductee James Taylor.
Updates, including public ticket sales for the ceremony, will be available via rockhall.com.
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Gallery Credit: Jim Allen
