Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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.”
If ever there was someone whose marriage advice was considered invaluable, it’s Dolly Parton.
The country veteran and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has been recording and releasing as a solo artist since 1967 – just one year after her marriage to the rarely-seen Carl Dean.
Together, the pair have been married for close to 60 years, though Dean has been known for his aversion to the spotlight. Having met in a laundromat on the day she moved to Nashville, only rarely do photographs of the pair emerge, and Parton has long said that Dean – a retired paver four years her senior – has only ever seen her perform live once.
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In a new interview with Bunnie Xo‘s Dumb Blonde podcast (itself a song title from Parton’s 1967 album Hello, I’m Dolly), the musical icon has offered up some of the secrets to their long-lasting relationship.
“He’s quiet and I’m loud, and we’re funny,” Parton explained. “Oh, he’s hilarious. And I think one of the things that’s made it last so long through the years is that we love each other [and] we respect each other, but we have a lot of fun.”
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“Anytime [there’s] too much tension going on, either one of us can like, find a joke about it to really break the tension, where we don’t let it go so far,” Parton continued, touching on their shared sense of humor. “We never fought back and forth. And I’m glad now that we never did, because once you start that, that becomes a lifetime thing.
“I’ve seen it with so many people, and I thought, ‘I ain’t ever starting that.’ I couldn’t bear to think that he’d say something I couldn’t take… because I’m a very sensitive person toward other people and myself.”
Parton’s comments are consistent with her previous offerings on the key to her long-lasting marriage, telling ET Canada in 2022 why she feels the pair have worked so long for close to 60 years.
“I like it when people say, ‘How did it last so long?’ I say, ‘I stay going,’” she explained. “You know, there’s a lot to be said about that. So we’re not in each other’s face all the time. He’s not in the business, so we have different interests, but yet we have the things we love to do together. So it was meant to be, I think. He was the one I was supposed to have and vice versa.”