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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke and Mick Ralphs are looking forward to being in good company in November when their band Bad Company is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“It is pretty amazing and very cool to be part of an iconic American institution that celebrates music, musicians and sometimes unsung heroes behind the scenes,” frontman Rodgers tells Billboard. “I know that our fans, friends and some media have wanted this for a long time, so they will be pleased at last. I am looking forward to seeing some old friends, reconnecting with (fellow inductee) Chubby Checker — maybe do the twist?”

Kirke, Bad Company’s drummer, adds that he too is “very happy. It’s been a long time coming… I’m not taking anything away from the (Rock Hall) committee; they had their reasons, but it’s a welcome addition if you will.”

Trending on Billboard

Via email from England, Ralphs — who suffered a debilitating stroke in 2016  — notes that, “I am elated and think that Bad Company’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is fantastic!” Both Rodgers and Kirke say they’re happiest that the guitarist was able to know the band would finally be inducted, though he’ll be unable to attend the Nov. 8 ceremony in Los Angeles. 

“To be honest, every year we were not nominated it was another blow, not necessarily for me but we wanted Mick to be able to see this,” Kirke says. “So that’s been rectified, and we’ll give him a shout from the podium in November.”

Bad Company has been eligible for induction since 1999 and received its first nomination this year. It also finished second on the fan ballot with more than 279,000 votes.

It formed as a rock ‘n’ roll supergroup during 1973 in England. Rodgers and Kirke hailed from Free, Ralphs had left Mott the Hoople, and bassist Boz Burrell, who passed away in 2006 at the age of 60, was fresh out of King Crimson. The group was managed by the legendary Peter Grant and signed to Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label. Its self-titled 1974  debut hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 in the U.K., selling five-times platinum and launching enduring rock radio hits such as “Can’t Get Enough,” Movin’ On” and the song “Bad Company.” 

Four of the band’s other 11 studio albums went platinum or better, as did the 1985 compilation 10 from 6. All told Bad Company sold more than 40 million records worldwide, with a cadre of other hits including “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Young Blood” and “Shooting Star.” 

“Bad company struck deep chords” with audiences around the world, Rodgers says. “At the time we didn’t really fully understand it, and even now it is difficult to quantify or analyze. Suffice to say we resonated with music fans, or you could say we were in the right places at the right times. Sometimes the best plans are no plans, just rely on feel.

“When we put the band together it was because it felt right and as songwriters there was a natural flow, an unspoken understanding and connection between us that still exists to this day. My mission was to go in whole-hearted and deliver our music from the heart and soul to the heart and soul and let… the fans decided if they liked it or not.”

Kirke maintains that Bad Company’s muscular, spartan brand of hard rock was the sound of four musicians liberated from circumstances that had become stifling and were subsequently free to find new and more pleasing path. 

“There was this air of ‘we’re free of the bonds of our three bands and free to do whatever we wanted,’” he explains. “We were all seasoned. (The success) didn’t take us completely by surprise… although maybe not to the extent we had right from the start. I think from the get-go Paul’s voice coupled with Mick’s songs — ‘Can’t Get Enough,’ ‘Movin’ On,’ “Ready For Love’ — made them come alive. And hooking up with Peter Grant and Led Zeppelin was the icing on the cake. (Grant’s) credo was, ‘I never tell anyone what to do in our bands except the lead singer. I said to (Robert Plant) and I’m saying the same thing to you, Paul — just wear something right and jump up and down a bit.”

Bad Company’s lineup splintered in 1982 and regrouped in 1998 to tour and record sporadically through 2019. Kirke and Ralphs, meanwhile, continued the band between 1986-1998 with the late Brian Howe and Robert Hart as frontmen. The group notched two more gold and another platinum album and scored more hits with “Holy Water,” “If You Needed Somebody,” “No Smoke” Without Fire,” “How About That” and “Shake It Up.”

Only the original lineup is being inducted, however, which Kirke — the only constant of Bad Company — feels is proper. 

“(Howe and Hart) extended the band’s life and popularity,” the drummer acknowledges, “but I think the die-hard Bad Company fans will recognize the original lineup as being the quintessential Bad Company. The six albums we put together with the original lineup are the ones most people remember and hold dear to their hearts. The others kind of belong to another generation.”

As to what Burrell would make of the induction, Rodgers guesses “possibly cooly chuffed,” while Kirke notes with a laugh that, “He would’ve been his usual, bitter self — I mean that in a fond way. Boz was that sort of little bit of a curmudgeon. I loved him to death, but I think he would probably get slightly tipsy and God knows what he would’ve said on the podium — leave it at that.”

Rodgers and Kirke, who recently had dinner together with their wives in Palm Springs, both say they intend to perform at the induction ceremony, though details “will come a little closer to the time” according to Rodgers. Both also voiced a desire to see Free be inducted in the future. 

Both remain busy making new music; Rodgers released a solo album, Midnight Rose, in 2023, while Kirke has written a stage musical about addiction that’s currently being shopped and is also planning his fourth solo album during the spring. Both are also involved in a Can’t Get Enough: A Tribute to Bad Company being put together by Primary Wave Music, which co-owns the group’s catalog, for release later this year. The Struts’ rendition of “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy” was released for Record Store Day, and Rodgers and Kirke will play on the album — which will also include a rendition of Free’s “All Right Now.”

“It has been very interesting listening to other musicians interpret your songs. I found myself smiling a lot,” says Rodgers, who’s also about eight months into writing of a memoir for publication next year. “The timing just seemed right at this point to open up and share my story. How interesting looking back at old photographs and the memories they evoke, reminding me that I am just a lad from Middlesbrough who got lucky — very lucky.”

Add Billy Joel to the list of artists advocating for late powerhouse rock vocalist Joe Cocker to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. On Tuesday (April 1), Billy Joel posted a video in which he reads a letter he wrote in 2014 to the RRHOF’s induction committee — at a time when Cocker’s health was in decline — imploring the Rock Hall to finally enshrine Cocker in its ring of honor.

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“As a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of fame since 1999, it has been one of my finest hopes to see Joe Cocker into it as well,” Joel said in a never-before-released clip recorded in 2016 in which he notes that he was “stunned” that he was inducted before Cocker. “When I first heard him in 1969 I was very inspired by the sound of his incredibly raw and soulful vocal style.”

That same “watershed” year, Joel said he attended the Woodstock Festival, bought the first Led Zeppelin album and heard Cocker sing one of his signature, raw-boned covers, the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends.”

“I thought Joe was the most powerful rock n’ roll interpretive male singer I had heard since first hearing the iconic early recordings of Ray Charles,” Joel continued in the video. “In my opinion, no one has since come even close to him as one of the great primal rock n’ roll vocalists of all time. I feel very strongly that Joe Cocker should be considered for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

The plea came from a video recorded by filmmaker John Edginton backstage at Madison Square Garden before a Joel performance, which was filmed for the 2017 documentary Joe Cocker: Mad Dog With Soul, but not included in the final cut. The clip posted to Cocker’s Instagram feed last week, ends with Joel asking the committee to consider putting Cocker on the ballot that year (2016). The singer said he never heard back from the Hall, joking, “it shows how much impact I have.” The Edginton video also includes singer-songwriter Randy Newman expressing surprise that Cocker — who recorded Newman’s “You Can Leave Your Hat On” — had not been on the ballot to that point.

Cocker was famous for his ragged, one-of-a-kind covers of other acts’ famous songs, with Joel comparing the late singer to such legendary song interpreters as Frank Sinatra.

In February, Cocker — who died in December 2014 at 70 from lung cancer, just months after Joel penned the letter — was nominated for the RRHOF for the first time after 36 years of eligibility. He’s vying for a spot for the Rock Hall’s Class of 2025 alongside 13 other musical greats, including Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Maná, Oasis, Outkast, Phish, Soundgarden and The White Stripes. The Class of 2025 will be revealed in late April, and this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles this fall, with details to be announced at a later date.

In March, Paul McCartney wrote his own letter to the Rock Hall also calling for Cocker’s induction. “Joe was a great man and a fine singer whose unique style made for some fantastic performances,” McCartney wrote. “He sang one of our songs ‘With a Little Help From My Friends,’ a [1968] version produced by Denny Cordell which was very imaginative.”

The two-time HOF honoree added, “All the people on the panel will be aware of the great contribution Joe made to the history of Rock and Roll. And whilst he may not have ever lobbied to be in the Hall of Fame, I know he would be extremely happy and grateful to find himself where he deserves to be amongst such illustrious company.”

Cocker’s widow, Pam Cocker, appreciated Macca support and his “sweet, sweet letter,” saying, “Joe was never anxious for it. The awards and accomplishments and all of that kind of stuff were not his thing — not to say that he wouldn’t be very pleased, as I am, just thrilled. But you just didn’t think about it.”

In addition, ZZ Top guitarist/singer Billy Gibbons has also supported the nomination of “one of a kind” singer Cocker nomination, saying, “Good news in view of the monumental recordings released and amazing performances… the very embodiment of rock and roll in terms of talent and spirit.” 

See Joel’s video below.

The late Joe Cocker is a contender for this year’s class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and Paul McCartney is on his side.
The Beatles star wrote a letter to the Rock Hall — an international voting panel composed of more than a thousand artists, historians and music industry professionals — suggesting that Cocker be chosen for induction. “Joe was a great man and a fine singer whose unique style made for some fantastic performances,” McCartney wrote of the “Woman to Woman” singer in the letter obtained by Billboard. “He sang one of our songs ‘With a Little Help From My Friends,’ a version produced by Denny Cordell which was very imaginative.”

He continued, “All the people on the panel will be aware of the great contribution Joe made to the history of Rock and Roll. And whilst he may not have ever lobbied to be in the Hall of Fame, I know he would be extremely happy and grateful to find himself where he deserves to be amongst such illustrious company.”

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The “Let It Be” singer sweetly signed the note, “Paul (McCartney).”

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McCartney is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honoree, as he was inducted in 1988 as a member of The Beatles and in 1999 as a solo artist.

Cocker, who died in 2014, is a first-time nominee. He’s up for the Rock Hall’s Class of 2025 alongside 13 other musical greats, including Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Maná, Oasis, Outkast, Phish, Soundgarden and The White Stripes.

The Class of 2025 will be revealed in late April, and this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles this fall, with more details to be announced in the coming months.

Mariah Carey is hoping that the this time it’s for real. The singer celebrated her second nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Thursday (Feb. 13), writing on Instagram that she was “so grateful” to be given a nod two years running; Carey has been eligible for induction into the HOF since 2016, but was not nominated until last year.
“It’s always an incredible honor to be recognized alongside so many legendary artists I admire. Thank you to the @rockhall and, of course, to my amazing fans— you are the heart of everything I do. This means so much! ❤️🎶,” Carey added alongside a vintage shot of herself and a second slide featuring the full list of this year’s other nominees.

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Carey is once again in good company among the 2025 roster of nominees, which also includes Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Maná, Oasis, Outkast, Phish, Soundgarden and The White Stripes.

Though she is the Christmas queen and a pop icon, Carey fell just short of the Rock Hall in 2024, when she was a first-time nominee alongside now Hall of Famers Cher, Jimmy Buffett, Mary J. Blige, Dave Matthews, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton, Dionne Warwick, Kool & the Gang, MC5, Foreigner and A Tribe Called Quest.

In the meantime, Carey will wrap her current run of The Celebration of Mimi residency shows at the Dolby Live at Park MGM with a pair of shows on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) and Saturday (Feb. 15).

The Class of 2025 will be revealed in late April with an announcement typically details which artists are inducted as performers and which names are entering the Rock Hall in the musical influence or musical excellence categories. The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles this fall.

The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett has spoken out about the group’s absence from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, urging for their inclusion in the prestigious institution.

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Speaking ahead of the band’s upcoming Disrupta Tour in Australia, Howlett admitted that the Hall of Fame hadn’t been on his radar—until now. “It’s not something I’ve ever thought about, but yeah, as you spoke about it we should be up there. Make it happen!” he told Rolling Stone AU/NZ.

While The Prodigy didn’t make the 2025 class, which features fellow British acts like Oasis, New Order, and Billy Idol, the Essex-born electronic pioneers make a strong case for future recognition. Their 1997 album The Fat of the Land became a landmark moment for electronic music, breaking barriers in the U.S. by debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200—an unprecedented achievement for a band in their genre at the time.

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Two of the group’s defining singles, “Firestarter” and “Smack My Bitch Up,” cracked the Billboard Hot 100 in an era when electronic music wasn’t widely embraced by the mainstream American industry.

“I’ve said before, I never gave a f* about the charts,” Howlett recalled. “But somehow Fat of the Land going to No. 1 in the USA felt different. It had an extra ‘f*** you-ness’ about it as only a few British bands had ever done that. So yeah, you could say it gave me a certain cheeky pride for a while.”

In their home country, The Prodigy have dominated the U.K. charts, racking up seven No. 1 albums, including their most recent studio effort, No Tourists, in 2018. Their career tally also includes 11 top 10 hits on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, with “Firestarter” and “Breathe” both reaching No. 1 in 1996.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame requires nominees to have released their first single or album at least 25 years before the induction year. The Prodigy, who first hit the U.K. charts in 1991 with “Charly,” easily meet the eligibility criteria, making them potential contenders for future classes.

As the group gears up for their first Australian tour in five years, fans are eager to see Howlett and Maxim back on stage. The Disrupta Tour, which kicks off Feb. 13 in Sydney, is also their first major run since the passing of frontman Keith Flint in 2019.

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher has made his stance on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame crystal clear following the band’s latest nomination, calling the institution “for wankers” in a blunt social media post.

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The Britpop icon reacted to the news after Oasis was named among the 2025 nominees, joining a list that includes New Order, Cyndi Lauper, The White Stripes, Mariah Carey, Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Outkast, Maná and the late Joe Cocker.

“RNR hall of fame is for WANKERS,” Gallagher posted on X under a flyer of the list of nominees on Feb. 12. He didn’t hold back when responding to a fan who asked what he’d do if Oasis were inducted, cheekily replying, “Obv go and say it’s the best thing EVER.”

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This isn’t the first time Gallagher has taken aim at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. When Oasis was nominated last year, he dismissed it entirely, writing, “F*** the Rock n Roll hall of fame its full of BUMBACLARTS LG.” He also told fans not to “waste your time” voting, calling the whole process “a load of bollox.”

Gallagher doubled down in a 2024 interview, scoffing at the Hall of Fame’s inclusions. “As much as I love Mariah Carey and all that, I want to say: do me a favour and f*** off,” he told The Sunday Times. “It’s like putting me in the rap hall of fame, and I don’t want to be part of anything that mentally disturbed. Besides, I’ve done more for rock n’ roll than half of them clowns on that board.”

Like The White Stripes, Oasis seemed like a strong contender upon its first nomination in 2024 but didn’t make the cut. This time, their odds look better after announcing their highly anticipated reunion tour, which sparked near-Taylor/Beyoncé-level demand.

With the possibility of their first new music in over 15 years, Oasis stands out as one of the most likely inductees in the 2025 class—if Gallagher is willing to accept the honor.

Gallagher also recently found himself at the center of controversy surrounding Oasis’ reunion shows after Ticketmaster’s decision to cancel thousands of resold tickets.

On Monday (Feb. 10), Billboard reported that fans had indeed begun to see their tickets being cancelled, with Ticketmaster getting in touch with some ticket holders to inform them that their tickets have been refunded. Ticketmaster’s message to these ticket holders claimed that “it has been identified that bots were used to make this purchase,” meaning they “violate the tour’s terms and conditions.”

With some fans venting their anger on social media, one X user named Karen Kelly reached out to Gallagher, asking “Liam what do you think of the ticket situation? Thinking fans are bots and getting their money returned?”

The rocker was less than sympathetic when asked about the situation, writing, “I don’t make the rules. We’re trying to do the right thing. It is what it is, I’m the singer. Get off my case.”

Oasis’ Rock Hall nomination comes as anticipation builds for their reunion tour, which marks the first time Liam and Noel Gallagher will share a stage in over a decade.

Cyndi Lauper was listed among the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees on Wednesday morning (Feb. 12), and the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” superstar shared her gratitude for the honor amid her global Farewell Tour.

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“It was amazing news to wake up to after last night’s show at the O2 in London,” she wrote in a statement to Billboard. “The audience showed me so much love, like all the audiences have all along this, my Farewell Tour.”

Lauper continued, “I am so grateful to my fans for my career. From the start, I’ve just wanted to make music that means something to people, that lifts them up and makes them feel seen. This honor, should I get in, is as much for them as it is for me. Thank you, Rock Hall.”

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Lauper is nominated for the Rock Hall’s Class of 2025 alongside 13 other nominees, including Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Maná, Oasis, Outkast, Phish, Soundgarden and The White Stripes.

The Grammy-winning “Time After Time” singer was previously nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023, but ultimately didn’t make the final cut for induction. Her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour continues throughout Europe until the end of February, before Lauper heads to Australia and Japan in April.

The Class of 2025 will be revealed in late April, and this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles this fall, with more details to be announced in the coming months.

02/12/2025

Here’s how we handicap this year’s class of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees and their respective chances of induction.

02/12/2025

Black Crowes‘ frontman Chris Robinson acknowledges, with a laugh, that “I’ve been cynical in the past about institutions” in general — and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame specifically. 
But he’s unreservedly pleased about the band’s first Rock Hall nomination. 

“We’re just very excited,” Robinson, who formed the group with younger brother Rich Robinson, drummer Steve Gorman, bassist Johnny Colt and guitarist Jeff Cease in 1989 in the Robinson’s native Atlanta, tells Billboard. “I don’t think we ever really would have thought about it, so for it to be in front of us, it’s incredible. We’re thrilled.

“All sarcasm aside, it’s amazing to be thought of. It’s amazing to be included. We love music, and we understand the real magical, alchemic process in it, and that we’ve managed to still be here this many years later and still be making records and in a lot of ways having a level of recognition and success that we haven’t felt before. 

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“Just to be mentioned (alongside) some of the names of the greatest artists, it’s fantastic,” he says of the band’s first nomination.

Robinson is well aware of his May 2017 remarks to SiriusXM’s Howard Stern, when he said he would not attend a Black Crowes’ induction and that “the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to me is like going to the mall or something.”

“As if an interview with Howard Stern’s a deposition,” Robinson says with another laugh. “I think like anything with age… To say what I’m saying today is sincere. This isn’t one of those situations where I’ll grudgingly, ‘Oh, if we get in, I’ll go…’ If it happens for us, then I’ll be there with bells on my feet.”

The Black Crowes flew out of the box strong, of course, starting with two multi-platinum albums — 1990’s Shake Your Money Maker and 1992’s The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion  — and a rash of 16 Mainstream Rock chart hits that includes “Jealous Again,” a rendition Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle,” “She Talks to Angels,” “Remedy” and “Thorn in My Pride.” The group has released nine studio albums, selling more than 30 million copies worldwide. Its latest, 2024’s Happiness Bastards, was nominated for a Grammy Award for best rock album, losing out to the Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds. “If you’re gonna lose a Grammy, lose it to Mick (Jagger) and Keith (Richards). We were just happy to be included,” Robinson says.

The Crowes have gone through three distinct eras during the band’s career — 1984-2002 and 2005-2015, with the Robinsons regrouping in 2019. More than two dozen musicians have played in the group during that time; in addition to the original lineup, guitarist Marc Ford and the late keyboardist Eddie Harsch are part of the nomination. There has been rancor over the years; Gorman published a revealing memoir, Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes, in 2019 and subsequently sued the Robinsons for unpaid royalties, in a case that was settled during 2022. Chris Robinson says any amends prior to a Rock Hall induction is a matter for “down the road,” while the current state of the band remains strong.

“I think where our career has led us since Rich and I got back together… I think it just adds to how deeply we’re interested in our career and our band,” he explains.

The Black Crowes are planning a “light” year of performing, Robinson says, and the brothers have already started to write new songs. “We probably have another 20 new songs already, sketches,” he says. “I think Happiness Bastards was kind of the ignition, a very positive step. It was like, ‘Wow, that was fun’ and ‘Wow, now we have some new ideas. I think getting in the studio this spring is something that we feel we want to do. It’s very exciting.”

Robinson, a Los Angeles resident for more than two decades, is also still glowing about the FireAid benefit concert on Jan. 30 at the Kia Forum, where the Black Crowes performed “Remedy” and backed John and Shane Fogerty on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” before the Robinsons teamed with Slash for a rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California.” 

“It was a super, super special event,” Robinson recalls. “Los Angeles gets this rap for being so shallow and vapid and stuff… but it just goes to show the real heart and soul of a place like Los Angeles. That’s what happens when you’re in a show business industry town. That’s where this town is pointed towards. So it was just spectacular.

“And to do it with Slash, who’s a friend but he’s synonymous with the Los Angeles music scene… I thought it was a really nice moment. And Jimmy (Page) saw it and he thought it was great. So, win-in.”

The Class of 2025 will be revealed in late April. That announcement typically details which artists are inducted as performers, which names are entering the Rock Hall in the musical influence or musical excellence categories and who the year’s Ahmet Ertegun award recipient will be. The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles this fall.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is destined to always evolve, says chairman John Sykes, but while new categories could arrive in the future, a new name for the establishment is out of the question.

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Sykes’ comments were published in a new interview with Vulture, which arrived on Tuesday (Dec. 31), just one day before the 2024 Rock Hall induction ceremony hit streaming services. In the piece, Sykes opens up about the current state of the foundation, and touches on previous calls for a name change, especially given how more pop and hip-hop artists have found themselves inducted in recent years.

“I think it’s because some people don’t understand the meaning of rock and roll,” Sykes explains. “If you go back to the original sound in the ’50s, it was everything. As Missy Elliott calls it, it was a gumbo. It just became known as rock and roll. So when I hear people say, ‘You should just change it to the Music Hall of Fame,’ rock and roll has pretty much covered all of that territory. Rather than throwing the name out, it’s doing a better job of communicating to people where rock and roll came from and what it’s truly about. Once they hear it that way, they understand.

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“The best story to convey this was when a great friend of mine, Jay-Z, got inducted a few years ago,” he continued. “I was so excited. But he told me, ‘Rock is dead. It should be called the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.’ And I said, ‘Well, hip-hop is rock and roll.’ He goes, ‘No, it isn’t.’ And I said, ‘We’ve got to do a better job explaining it. Little Richard, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry — these artists were the cornerstones of rock and roll. If you look at the sounds over the years, those artists ended up influencing hip-hop.’ Jay-Z hemmed and hawed, but he showed up to the ceremony. That made me feel like we had done our job to communicate that rock and roll is open to all.”

These comments echo Sykes’ previous recollection of the discussion, as printed in Jay-Z’s Book of HOV just last month.

“My last words, as I pleaded for Jay to come to Cleveland to accept his award, were that rock n’ roll is not any one sound, rather a gumbo,” he wrote. “To paraphrase the great Berry Gordy, rock n’ roll created the sound of young America. It’s a spirit, and the spirit of hip-hop and rap connected rock n’ roll with an entirely new generation.”

Elsewhere in his new discussion, Sykes also looked towards the future of the Rock Hall and the potential for further new categories. While the annual induction ceremony has always featured Performers, Musical Influences (previously called ‘Early Influences’ before 2023), and the Ahmet Ertegun Award (previously called ‘Non-Performers’ before 2008) as categories, it has expanded further in the past.

In 2000, the Rock Hall introduced the Sidemen category to honor those who are often overlooked in the grand scheme of things, with the category being renamed the Award for Musical Excellence in 2010. Likewise, between 2018 and 2020, roughly half-a-dozen songs were chosen each year as the singles that shaped rock history. As Sykes explains, there’s the potential to dig even deeper into the music industry to honor those who keep the industry turning.

“We’ve discussed ways we could recognize not only artists but those around them who’ve had an impact on the sound of rock and roll. Fans often don’t even know who helped break these artists,” he added. “It could be record-company presidents, it could be lawyers, it could be agents. We also want to look at specific songs that change culture. That could be another category.”

Concluding his interview, Sykes also discussed a number of artists who have been overlooked in previous years, including The B-52s, “Weird Al” Yankovic, the Pixies, and Phil Collins‘ solo career.

Labelling Yankovic a “genius” who is yet to make it “close” to the ballot, Sykes expressed confidence that the others may make it in some day.

“There’s been a group of nominees who’ve been passionate about the Pixies,” he said. “The same thing with Warren Zevon, who actually did get on the ballot one year. I’m passionate about Warren, and he’ll get in, too. But the Pixies have had a lot of support.”