The Rock and Roll Hall of Fane has announced the Finalists for the 2025 Class, and as always they did do in random fashion, with an announcement the day before that always changes.

The nominees are:

Bad Company.  Eligible since 2000, never nominated.  Ranked #23 on Notinhalloffame.com.  This is a long time coming for Paul Rodgers, whose band has huge support for the Rock Hall.

The Black Crowes.  Eligible since 2016, never nominated.  Ranked #240 on Notinhalloffame.com.  The Black Crowes netted their first nomination and were outliers in their time.

Chubby Checker.  Eligible since 1986, never nominated.  Ranked #280 on Notinhalloffame.com.  Nobody waited longer than Checker, who receives his first nomination after being eligible for the entire duration of the Hall’s existence.

Joe Cocker.  Eligible since 1995, never nominated.  Ranked #34 on Notinhalloffame.com.  Cocker is another who waited a long time to finally gain a nomination.

Billy Idol.  Eligible since 2007, never nominated.  Ranked #118 on Notinhalloffame.com.  The prince of pop-punk secures his first nomination after 18 years.

Mana.  Eligible since 2013, never nominated.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.  Who?   Bluntly, they were never on our radar but this Mexican group is massively popular and can fill to this day arenas across the United States. 

OutKast.  Eligible since 2019, never nominated.  Ranked #40 on Notinhalloffame.com.  Southern Hip Hop looks to enter the Hall for the first time, and who better than Outkast to spearhead it.

Phish.  Eligible since 2016, never nominated.  Ranked #131 on Notinhalloffame.com.  Could Phish become the next jam band to enter the Hall?

Mariah Carey.  Eligible since 2016, nominated in 2024.  Ranked #130 on Notinhalloffame.com.  Carey is on the ballot for the second straight year.

New Order/Joy Division.  Eligible since 2004, nominated in 2023.  Ranked separately on Notinhalloffame at #5 and #11 respectively.  The Hall is trying it again by combining the two groups.  This is not unprecedented as they indicted the Small Faces/The Faces together.

Cyndi Lauper:  Eligible since 2009, nominated in 2023.  Ranked #105 on Notinhalloffame.com. Lauper is nominated for the second time, and sees a ballot with only one other female act.

Oasis:  Eligible since 2024, nominated in 2024.  Ranked #3 on Notinhalloffame.com.  Oasis is on the ballot for the second straight year, and would that not be fun to hear a Gallagher brothers acceptance speech!

The White Stripes: Eligible since 2023, nominated in 2023.  Ranked #6 on Notinhalloffame.com.  Jack and Meg White return to the ballot, and look to be fixtures until they are inducted.

Soundgarden: Eligible since 2012, nominated in 2020 & 2023.  Ranked #19 on Notinhalloffame.com.  This is the third kick at the can for the Grunge act.

It is unknown when the Rock Hall will announce the 2025 Class, but we would like to congratulate those who were nominated. 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has put forth one of the most diverse group of nominees for the Class of 2023, and let’s get right into who they have nominated:

A Tribe Called Quest is nominated for the first time, and should the Alternative Hip-Hop group get in, it would open the doors for many of their ilk.

Cyndi Lauper receives her first nomination since being eligible in 2009.  With a barrage of 80s hits, and an activist legacy that plays well to the voter base, this is a great ballot for her, as only Kate Bush falls close to her category.

Iron Maiden collects a second nomination, but the Heavy Metal gods face an uphill climb as the voters have shown that they do not care for their genre.

Joy Division/New Order are in for a combined nomination, which greatly improves the chances for all parties in question.  This is not unprecedented, as the Hall previous nominated and inducted, as the Small Faces and Faces were put forth together.  Neither group has been nominated before, and this first nomination could be their only one as this is a very strong candidate.

Kate Bush earned her fourth nomination, and no artist has enjoyed more of an interest in her music over the past twelve months with her song, “Running Up That Hill” featured on Stranger Things.  Cyndi’s appearance on this ballot, could delay Bush one more time.

George Michael receives his first nomination after being eligible since 2010.  The mastermind behind Wham!, had a monstrous solo career generating five number ones as a solo, and two more as a duet (one with Aretha Franklin and one with Elton John).  This would be a posthumous induction, as Michael passed away on Christmas Day, 2016 from heart disease.

Missy Elliot is nominated in her first year on the ballot, and should she get in, she will be the first female rapper inducted.  Generally, we try not to equate everything to gender, but the above fact makes her a near-lock for induction, but we have had similar thoughts before.

Rage Against the Machine received a fifth nomination, and now fifth in the last six years.  Will RATM get in this year, or does Soundgarden siphon off some of their votes?

Sheryl Crow is also a first-time nominee.  Eligible since 2019, Crow was very successful in the 1990s with many hits, but she may not have the influence factor to get over some of the other artists here.

Soundgarden is now a two-time nominee, the first coming in 2020.  The Seattle group could cancel out RATM, and arguably this is a bad ballot for both.

The Spinners return with another nomination, their fourth overall and first since 2016.  Could the Philly Soul pioneers play spoiler?

Warren Zevon is nominated for the first time after being eligible since 1995, and it a long time coming for the acclaimed Singer/Songwriter.  We have seen before how the voting body reacts to a first-time nominee who has eligible for 20 years, but he is not the only one with that credential here.

The White Stripes are in the same camp as Missy Elliot, as they are nominated on their first year.  This is the type of group that the Hall drools over; successful, influential, a tad eccentric and polotically in tune with their ideals.  

Willie Nelson finally got his first nomination after decades of eligibility, and following Dolly Parton last year, does this not feel like Willie is getting in?

The Class will be announced on a date yet to be determined.

We would like to congratulate the 2023 nominees for making it to this step.

The music world woke up to some sad news today.

In what may be a suicide, Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog has died at the age of 52 while in tour in Detroit. Michigan.

Born in Seattle, Cornell formed Soundgarden in 1984.  The group would release their first EP in 1987 and would be courted by multiple labels as they along with other Grunge bands of the area (Nirvana, Pearl Jam) were leading an alternative music explosion.  Prior to Soundgarden’s breakthrough to the mainstream in 1994, he formed Temple of the Dog, a grunge supergroup with members of Pearl Jam, which also accelerated the attention that Cornell would later receive.

94’ was easily Cornell and Soundgarden’s greatest career commercially with the release of Superunknown.  The album generated hits such as “Spoonman” and “Black Hole Sun” and showed off the range both lyrically and melodically of Cornell. 

While he would never reach that height of mainstream success again, Cornell would always be working whether it was as a solo, with Soundgarden or Audioslave and was one of the most respected musicians of his day.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Chris Cornell at this time.

Welcome to the first true heavyweight entry of the Grunge question.  The question is not whether a Grunge associated act will get in; because one will.  The question is how many, and does the Hall have a quota.  With Soundgarden now eligible, we are fascinated to see what will happen.