The list of 14 performer nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2025 includes eight candidates who appear on the institution’s ballot for the first time — including some surprises that range from the previously overlooked “Twist” popularizer Chubby Checker to the Latin rock group Maná to the jam band Phish.
The other artists who are being put up for election for the first time are Outkast, Billy Idol, Bad Company, Joe Cocker and the Black Crowes.
The remaining six nominees announced Wednesday morning are making a repeat appearance on the ballot. Those are Mariah Carey, Oasis, the White Stripes, Cyndi Lauper, Joy Division/New Order and Soundgarden.
These possible performer inductees, selected by a nominating committee, will now go out to a wider base of 1,200 select voters, with the winners due to be announced in late April. That is the same time that additional nominees will be announced that have not gone to the broader votership but were directly installed by the seletct committee, in the Musical Influence, Musical Excellence and the Ahmet Ertegun Non-Performer Award areas.
The induction ceremony moves to Los Angeles this year, on a fall date yet to be announced.
The complete list of ’25 contenders, alphabetically:
Bad CompanyThe Black CrowesMariah CareyChubby CheckerJoe CockerBilly IdolJoy Division/New OrderCyndi LauperManáOasisOutkastPhishSoundgardenThe White Stripes
Of course, many eyes will be on whether Oasis gets in this time while the band is due to make its highly publicized live comeback this summer after 16 years of dormancy. The forthcoming stadium tour could work in the band’s favor this time around… or, conversely, voters could hold it against Oasis that Liam Gallagher’s response to being nominated a year ago was to say “fuck the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame” and call it “a load of bollox.”
One of the biggest shocks in this year’s crop — and certainly a pleasant one for many — would have to be the inclusion of the Mexican band Maná, marking the first time an artist recording primarily or entirely in Spanish has been nominated.
But it’s just as surprising to see Checker, a rock pioneer, finally get a nod after having been eligible since 1985, which is to say, the first year there was a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His champions had long argued that Checker’s absence from even getting on the ballot was one of the hall’s more glaring historical oversights, while naturally there were others who felt that he was too much of a two-hit wonder to earn a place among the other seminal rockers who’d gotten in. It remains to be seen which way the larger bloc of voters will lean — but at 83, Checker is still around to accept the honor, if it should be awarded, years after most of his contemporaries have passed on.
Cocker also represents a rare example of an artist from prior to the 1970s getting a nod in recent times, as the Hall nominating committee has increasingly put a focus on ’90s artists as they’ve come up for eligibility, 25 years after their first notable work.
In an example of if-at-first-you-don’t-succeed, the Hall of Fame’s nominating committee put two artists, Carey and Oasis, right back in contention after they were nominated and failed to make the cut last year. Ironically, it appeared as if Carey being on the ballot was part of what drew Liam Gallagher’s scorn in 2024. At least, it seemed unlikely that the provocative singer was being serious when he wrote that his band was less deserving than Mariah, because, in his words, “she smashed it.”
“This remarkable list of nominees reflects the diverse artists and music that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honors and celebrates,” said John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, in a statement. “Continuing in the true spirit of rock & roll, these artists have created their own sounds that have impacted generations and influenced countless others that have followed in their footsteps.”
