The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation has revealed its 2025 class. Newly selected by the hall’s voters as members of the class of ’25: Cyndi Lauper, the White Stripes, Chubby Checker, Outkast, Bad Company, Soundgarden and Joe Cocker. Phish, the big winner of the fan vote failed to make the cut.
Two more recording artists won induction into the hall despite not appearing on this year’s ballot, by a move of the board in a separate Musical Influence category: Salt-N-Pepa and Warren Zevon.
Performer Category:
- Bad Company
- Chubby Checker
- Joe Cocker
- Cyndi Lauper
- Outkast
- Soundgarden
- The White Stripes
Musical Influence Award:
- Salt-N-Pepa
- Warren Zevon
Musical Excellence Award:
- Thom Bell
- Nicky Hopkins
- Carol Kaye
Ahmet Ertegun Award:
- Lenny Waronker
The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction will be live on Saturday, November 8th at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California. The 2025 ceremony will once again stream live on Disney+, with a special airing on ABC at a later date and available on Hulu the next day.
“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,” said John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “Their music gave a voice to generations and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”
The Inductees were announced live on ABC this evening by Ryan Seacrest during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame episode of “American Idol,” where the Top 14 American Idol finalists took on songs from legendary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees as America voted live for the Top 12. The episode will be available tomorrow on Hulu.
To be eligible for induction, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Bad Company, and Outkast are first-time nominees, whereas Cyndi Lauper, Soundgarden, and The White Stripes have all been nominated before.
The Induction categories include:
- Performers: artists who have created music whose originality, impact, and influence has changed the course of rock & roll.
- Musical Influence Award: artists whose music and performance style have directly influenced, inspired, and evolved rock & roll and music impacting culture.
- Musical Excellence Award: given to artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence have had a dramatic impact on music.
- Ahmet Ertegun Award: non-performing industry professionals who have had a major influence on the creative development and growth of rock & roll and music that has impacted culture.
