(February 12, 2025). Pardon the metaphor in this article’s title — because many, if not all of this year’s nominees are worthy of Rock Hall of Fame recognition. But there are few signs as compelling as a unique aspect of this year’s nomination class when it comes to the dire state of rock and roll in 2025. Not just rock music as a genre, but “Rock and Roll” in the broader sense that the so-named Hall of Fame loosely defines it.
This year, for what may be the first time in history, none of the fourteen nominees for the Class of 2025 — announced early Wednesday (Feb. 12) — are in their first year of eligibility. Six have been nominated previously — Mariah Carey, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Oasis, Soundgarden and the White Stripes — while the remaining eight are first-time nominees that, with one exception (OutKast), have been eligible for at least ten years and, in one case — Chubby Checker — since the Hall was founded in 1986. In addition to Checker and OutKast, the remaining first-time nominees are Bad Company, Black Crowes, Billy Idol, Joe Cocker, Maná, and Phish.
One could make an argument that all of these acts should have been nominated earlier, if not inducted already.
The Hall’s aversion to Checker for nearly four decades seems more like an indictment of its flimsy voting criteria than his worthiness — especially if he finally gets in this year — because there’s little that he’s added to his legacy over that timeframe. Chubby is best known for his two-time No. 1 smash, “The Twist,” which, until recently, reigned as Billboard’s No. 1 Hot 100 song of all time. He followed it with several other “Twist”-themed hits and even had another No. 1 in 1961’s “Pony Time.” Given the legendary status of “The Twist” and the fact that several other inductees have made it largely based on just one piece of work, there’s no good reason that Chubby shouldn’t already be enshrined.
Iconic rap duo OutKast arguably deserves to get in as well, given that they practically pioneered the southern, mostly Atlanta-based hip-hop that has been the genre’s bread and butter for the better part of two decades. Their entry would make them only the sixth rap “group,” after Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, the Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, N.W.A., and Public Enemy, to get in. Some might argue that they were the last great hip-hop group with Rock Hall-worthy credentials.
But OutKast, whose first album dropped in 1994, is the only act whose RRHOF eligibility doesn’t date back at least ten years. All 13 of the other nominees have been recording professionally since at least 1990, with the Hall’s 25-year eligibility criteria making all of them eligible since at least 2015.
Is there a reason that acts like Billy Idol, Bad Company, Cyndi Lauper, and New Order haven’t gotten in already, other than the RRHOF’s trickled approach of allowing only six to eight artists in per year? Even with that as a factor, what made them less eligible than some of the more recent inductees whose careers have been much shorter?
On the flip side, this class of non-first-time eligible nominees is also an indication that the more recent crop of artists with under five years of eligibility — turn-of-the-century acts like Coldplay, Matchbox 20, Destiny’s Child, Usher, Creed, etc. — haven’t been compelling enough to trump the older artists, making this year’s class feel like a proverbial scrape of the old barrel.
Of course, that’s not the case. Mariah Carey, arguably the most accomplished musician on this list with both singer and songwriter credentials to boot, has been nominated multiple times without getting in, despite the fact that her legacy has grown with each passing year thanks to the annual return of “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” And let’s face it, that tune — love it or hate it — is no less rock and roll than, say, The Ronette’s “Be My Baby,” the song without which that Sixties group would likely not be in the Hall.
Anyway, so begins the annual debate of who should and should not be nominated and ultimately inducted. It’s an argument as old as the Hall itself, and one that will only be settled later this year — at least officially — when the new class is announced; at least until next year, when we do this all over again.
Congratulations to all this year’s nominees!
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
You can also register for free (select the menu bars above) to receive notifications of future articles.