After months of anticipation, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland announced the 2025 inductees live on Sunday night’s episode of “American Idol” — and this year’s class of 13 honorees includes Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Salt-N-Pepa, Warren Zevon and several more!
This year’s group will be formally immortalized in the Rock Hall with the 2025 induction ceremony later this year at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 8.
So who else made the cut? Explore the story below to meet this year’s list of rock ‘n’ roll royalty, see which nominees missed out and find out how you can watch the induction ceremony live later this year.
2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees revealedIntroducing this year’s class
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2025 are being inducted within the following categories…
PERFORMER CATEGORY
This category includes artists who have created music with originality, impact and influence that changed the course of rock ‘n’ roll.
Bad Company (first-time nominee)
Chubby Checker (first-time nominee)
Joe Cocker (first-time nominee)
Cyndi Lauper
Outkast (first-time nominee)
Soundgarden
The White Stripes
MUSICAL INFLUENCE AWARD
This category includes artists whose music and performance style have directly influenced, inspired and evolved rock ‘n’ roll and music impacting youth culture.
Salt-N-Pepa
Warren Zevon
MUSICAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
This category includes artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact on music.
Thom Bell
Nicky Hopkins
Carol Kaye
AHMET ERTEGUN AWARD
This category includes non-performing industry professionals who have had a major influence on the creative development and growth of rock ‘n’ roll and music that has impacted youth culture.
Lenny Waronker
“Each of these inductees created their own sound and attitude that had a profound impact on culture and helped to change the course of Rock & Roll forever,” said John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “Their music gave a voice to generations and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”
You can read in-depth bios and watch music videos from this year’s class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees throughout the story below… (all bios provided by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
Bad CompanyPerformer category
Credit: Provided by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Bad Company
Inductees include: Boz Burrell, Simon Kirke, Mick Ralphs, Paul Rodgers
Hard rock’s quintessential supergroup, Bad Company featured some of the most highly skilled musicians in 1970s rock & roll. Formed in 1973, in London by former members of Free, Mott the Hoople, and King Crimson, they stripped the music down to its elemental soul and groove, selling tens of millions of records and delivering FM rock & roll radio standards “Bad Company,” “Can’t Get Enough,” “Ready for Love,” “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” and “Shooting Star.”
Vocalist Paul “The Voice” Rodgers’ raspy, muscular voice is often cited as one of rock & roll’s best, ranked 55th in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Singers of All Time.” Guitarist Mick Ralphs’ high-gain guitar riffs and heavy phrasing were the primary force behind the band’s hard rock sound, while bassist Raymond “Boz” Burrell brought a perfectionist mentality and jazz sensibility to the group. Drummer Simon Kirke is considered a pioneer of modern rock & roll drumming, with his Ringo-influenced backbeat and powerful groove comparable to that of Keith Moon and John Bonham.
Fueled by this musical mastery, Bad Company’s eponymous debut album reached Number One and Number Three on the U.S. and U.K. charts respectively – historically ranking on lists like Kerrang’s “100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time.” Their next two albums, Straight Shooter and Run With the Pack, also reached the Top Five in both countries. Building on their success with radio-ready arena rock anthems, Bad Company experimented with a quieter, more introspective approach for Burnin’ Sky and synthesizers and acoustic textures for Desolation Angels. The gamble paid off for Desolation, but the brightest stars burn the fastest, and this was the group’s last Top Ten album. Following 1982’s Rough Diamonds, Bad Company disbanded.
From 1986 to 1998, Simon Kirke kept the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy” alive by reforming the band with a variety of new lineups and delighting their devoted audiences with reunion tours as recent as 2023. Rodgers has also remained active to this day, including live performances with Jimmy Page (in the Firm), Queen, Jeff Beck, and the revived Free. Bad Company’s influence can be heard in the anthemic rock & roll of Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Five Finger Death Punch.
Chubby CheckerPerformer category
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Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker harnessed the explosion of youth culture in rock & roll’s early years, combining the power of records, radio, television, and movies to engage a worldwide audience. The undisputed king of 1960s rock & roll dance crazes, Chubby Checker inspired millions to shake it all night long to hits like “The Twist,” “The Fly,” “The Hucklebuck,” “The Pony,” and “Limbo Rock.”
Born Ernest Evans in Spring Gully, South Carolina, his family soon moved to Philadelphia where he began singing vocal harmony on the street corner and learning piano at the Settlement Music School. He had an amazing ability to mimic the vocal styles of other singers – a skill that earned him his first single, “The Class,” where he imitated the sounds of Fats Domino, the Coasters, and Elvis Presley. The song caught the attention of American Bandstand host Dick Clark, whose wife Barbara was so impressed by Evans’ Fats Domino impression that she suggested the similarly styled stage name Chubby Checker.
Checker signed to the legendary Cameo-Parkway label and recorded a version of Hank Ballard and the Midnighters’ 1958 B side “The Twist.” The song became a hit and a massive cultural phenomenon. On August 6, 1960, Checker appeared for the first time on American Bandstand, unleashing the dance move that would soon sweep the nation – and the crowd went wild. The song hit Number One in 1960 and again in 1961, earning it the title of Billboard’s most successful single of all time. From Main Street to the White House, suddenly everyone was doing “The Twist.”
Checker charted 32 hits between 1960 and 1966, starring in two films – 1961’s Twist Around the Clock and 1962’s Don’t Knock the Twist – that showcased his fluid dance moves and ability to inspire others to dance. He experimented in later years with folk music, psychedelic rock, and disco. In 1988, the hip-hop group Fat Boys returned Checker to the Top Forty by recording a rap version of “The Twist.”
Joe CockerPerformer category
Credit: Photo by Elliott Landy/Redferns, provided by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker was one of rock & roll’s most gifted and influential artists. With his distinctive, soulful voice and his singular talent as a song stylist, Cocker’s true genius lay in his rare ability to take someone else’s music and make it uniquely his own, captivating the imagination of millions of listeners.
While Cocker was a songwriter himself, his interpretations of classics like “Feelin’ Alright” and “The Letter” redefined those songs, crafting their definitive versions and introducing them to new audiences. His iconic take on “With a Little Help From My Friends” was so transformative that it became a signature of Woodstock and an anthem of its era. Cocker’s raw and powerful voice was a rare instrument of pure passion – gritty and ravaged while also heartbreakingly tender – and his greatness was also showcased in his electrifying stage presence, which made the legendary Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour in 1970 among the most celebrated moments in rock & roll history.
As a young singer, Cocker performed in pubs in his hometown of Sheffield, England, before releasing his first single in 1964 and forming the Grease Band in 1966. By 1968, “With a Little Help From My Friends” hit Number One in the U.K. and made him a star, and his career soared further with hits like “Delta Lady” and “Cry Me a River.” Despite personal and professional struggles over the years, Cocker continually rebounded, releasing the emotional “You Are So Beautiful” in 1974 and the Grammy-winning “Up Where We Belong” in 1982. Over his forty-year career, Cocker released 23 studio albums and toured extensively, reinventing himself while staying true to his intense, emotive style. He released his final album, Fire It Up, in 2012 and passed away from lung cancer in 2014.
Ranked among Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” and honored with an OBE in 2007, Cocker’s impact on popular music is immeasurable. Billy Joel once said about Cocker, “In my opinion, no one has come even close to him as one of the great primal rock & roll vocalists of all time.”
Cyndi LauperPerformer category
Credit: Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images, provided by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Cyndi Lauper
With her distinctive four-octave voice and songwriting chops, Cyndi Lauper broke down barriers for waves of future artists and empowered them to perform as their unique, authentic selves. Lauper became one of the biggest stars of the 1980s with her eclectic mix of pop, rock, reggae, funk, and dance styles. Her record-breaking debut album She’s So Unusual featured four consecutive Top Five U.S. singles – “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “Time After Time,” “She Bop,” and “All Through the Night” – and earned her two Grammys. Through MTV, Lauper brought her unique look, style, and sound to living rooms throughout America – inspiring legions of young fans, her video for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” also won the inaugural VMA for Best Female Video.
By the end of 1985, Cyndi Lauper had established herself as one of the best-selling artists in the world, and over the next fifteen years she grew as a writer, producer, and advocate. Lauper’s 1986 sophomore album True Colors reached Number Four on the Billboard 100 and included the chart-topper “True Colors” and Number Three “Change of Heart.” Lauper’s four albums from the 2000s explored and celebrated such musical genres as pop standards, electronic/dance music, blues, and country. A lifelong advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community, she founded True Colors United in 2008 to support LGBTQIA+ youth experiencing homelessness. In 2013 she became the first solo woman to win a Tony Award for Best Score for the queer-positive Broadway hit Kinky Boots.
When Lauper was awarded the Billboard Icon Award in 2018, Dua Lipa called She’s So Unusual “a multiplatinum declaration of independence and an important statement about the right of women to define themselves and their place in the world on their own terms.” In 2024, Lauper embarked on a sold-out worldwide farewell tour and was the subject of the documentary Let the Canary Sing.
Further cementing her legacy, Lauper’s “Time After Time” has been covered by over 100 artists and is featured in Rolling Stone’s 500 Best Songs of All Time. Cyndi Lauper’s rebellious influence on the attitudes, sound, and fashion of the music industry for the past forty years is evident in the work of other iconoclastic artists like P!nk, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, and Chappell Roan.
OutKastPerformer category
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OutKast
Inductees include: André 3000 (André Benjamin) and Big Boi (Antwan Patton)
OutKast redefined hip-hop with their genre-blending sound and relentless innovation, proving the “Dirty South” could compete with rap music’s long-standing East and West Coast scenes. OutKast’s distinctive sound – a blend of funk, soul, and jazz with introspective storytelling – helped them become one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful hip-hop groups of all-time. With massive tracks like “Hey Ya!,” OutKast challenged every norm, defied every genre, and pushed every boundary.
André “3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton formed OutKast in 1992 as 16-year-old high school students in Atlanta. The duo would soon team up with local producers Organized Noize and, along with fellow schoolmates Goodie Mob, they formed the Dungeon Family collective. Together, they elevated Atlanta as a cultural and musical hub. In 1992, OutKast signed with LaFace Records, becoming the label’s first hip-hop act. Their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994), featured laid-back classics like “Player’s Ball” and earned them Best New Rap Group at the 1995 Source Awards. This felt like a watershed moment for hip-hop – as Benjamin famously said, “The South got something to say.”
OutKast’s next two albums – 1996’s ATLiens and 1998’s Aquemini – continued to expand their sound, introducing experimental and futuristic production. This era produced some of OutKast’s most critically acclaimed songs, including “ATLiens,” “Rosa Parks,” and “SpottieOttieDopaliscious.” In 2000, Stankonia evolved their sound again, with the deeply personal “Ms. Jackson” and the electro-influenced “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” – a song Pitchfork called the Number One song of the 2000s. OutKast would reach new heights with the release of 2003’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The album earned a Grammy for Album of the Year as well as yielding two Number One hits – “The Way You Move” and the ubiquitous “Hey Ya!”
The legacy of OutKast is vividly apparent in all pockets of contemporary hitmakers – the introspection of Kendrick Lamar, the afro-futurism of Janelle Monáe, the individuality of Tyler, the Creator – and an entire generation of ATL protégés including T.I., Ludacris, Future, and Migos.
SoundgardenPerformer category
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Soundgarden
Inductees include: Matt Cameron, Chris Cornell, Ben Shepherd, Kim Thayil, Hiro Yamamoto
Soundgarden ignited the grunge movement that radically changed rock & roll in the 1980s and 1990s. The band’s raw power came out of the Northwest and flew in the face of a disconnected world, giving fans what they had long desired: a voice and a sense of belonging. A unique combination of alternative, metal, and punk, Soundgarden’s compelling sound cemented their place in music history.
In 1984, bassist Hiro Yamamoto formed Soundgarden with guitarist Kim Thayil and singer Chris Cornell, and in 1986 the band appeared on the legendary Deep Six Seattle grunge compilation. With Matt Cameron joining on drums, this lineup recorded seminal grunge works, including their debut EP Screaming Life, the second studio release of the foundational indie record label Sub Pop. With Louder Than Love in 1989, Soundgarden became the first band from that scene to release an album on a major label. The following year, Ben Shepherd stepped in on bass, and the band ascended into the mainstream with Badmotorfinger (1991), the six-time platinum Superunknown (1994), and Down on the Upside (1996). Soundgarden disbanded in 1997, later reuniting in 2010.
Drummer Matt Cameron’s ability to balance groove with power in unusual time signatures is unrivaled, and Ben Shepherd’s bass fills whatever role is needed – melodic counterpoint, rumbling foundation, or a rhythmic complement. Guitarist Kim Thayil’s combination of metal-influenced drop tuning, virtuosity, and noise allow his riffs and solos to soar. And above it all was the voice of Chris Cornell – the quintessential rock vocalist – a rare combination of raw power, technical mastery, and soul-searing emotion. Cornell’s four-octave voice could effortlessly move between hauntingly ethereal, gut-wrenchingly powerful, and seductively inviting. He embodied songs with a delivery that could be both ferocious and heartbreakingly fragile. He made you believe every note, every scream, and every whispered lyric. Tragically, Soundgarden came to an end in 2017 with the passing of Chris Cornell.
Soundgarden’s foray into the mainstream paved the way for Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and other grunge bands, setting the stage for major labels to seek out alternative sounds as diverse as Britpop, industrial, and riot grrrl. The groundwork they laid for countless hard rock and metal bands was essential, and their influence and legacy continue to resonate across generations.
The White StripesPerformer category
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The White Stripes
Inductees include: Jack White, Meg White
The White Stripes reimagined minimalist garage and punk rock for a new generation and brought blues into the twenty-first century. The band stripped down rock & roll to its essentials and delivered the uninhibited freedom that only the best music can offer. They proved that a band could create massive, genre-defining sound with only two people, inspiring a wave of rock & roll revivalists and making a lasting mark on popular music.
Guitarist Jack White (born John Gillis) and drummer Meg White formed the White Stripes in Detroit in 1997. After releasing three blues-inspired albums on the independent label Sympathy for the Record Industry, the duo broke into the mainstream with a 2002 major label re-release of White Blood Cells. They promptly followed that album with their first proper major label debut, 2003’s Elephant. After two more albums – 2005’s piano-driven Get Behind Me Satan and their highest-charting Icky Thump (2007) – the band embarked on a Canadian tour, as featured in the acclaimed documentary Under Great White Northern Lights. The White Stripes performed for the last time on the final episode of Late Night With Conan O’Brien before officially dissolving in 2011.
Red, white, and black saturate the White Stripes’ visual aesthetic. With the help of director Michel Gondry, their innovative music videos experiment with shifts in perspective (“The Denial Twist”) and the deconstruction of basic elements (“Fell in Love With a Girl”). Their musical style layers the rawness of garage rock and the piercing energy of punk over a blues foundation. Songs like “Seven Nation Army” feature a trio of sounds – often vocals, guitar, and drums. Jack’s voice whines and screeches out unapologetic lyrics laced with raw production effects, and his heavy guitar riffs ground the harmonic structure while his solo work – tasteful while also frenetic and sometimes unhinged – fleshes out the overall texture. Meg’s drumming is raw, powerful, and perfectly suited to the band’s sound – embracing a primal, minimalist approach that gives the music its pulse and urgency, her pounding beats are the backbone of the band’s signature style.
Jack White told Rolling Stone, “The whole point of the White Stripes is the liberation of limiting yourself,” and a new generation is listening – from rock & roll duos Royal Blood and Deap Vally to bassist Karina Rykman and rapper Danny Brown.
Salt-N-PepaMusical Influence Award
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Salt-N-Pepa
Inductees include: Cheryl James, Sandra Denton and Dee Dee Roper
When Salt-N-Pepa jumped into the rap scene, a new era of hip-hop was born – a time for women to harness their own power and flip the male-dominated genre on its head. They established a new look and style with their spandex, asymmetrical haircuts, and Dapper Dan jackets. Musically they mixed a two-MC flow with expert DJ technique, all while blending hip-hop beats with pop– and R&B–influenced melodies and confident lyrics celebrating female empowerment. They were the first major all-female rap group and the first women in rap to go platinum, crowning them the First Ladies of Rap.
Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton were nursing students at Queensborough Community College when they met while working together at Sears. At the urging of their friend – and later producer and songwriter – Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor, they cut the track “The Showstopper” for his music school project, a response to Doug E. Fresh’s single “The Show.” The song was a radio hit, and the group soon rounded out their act by adding a DJ – Dee Dee Roper as Spinderella. The group’s 1986 debut, Hot, Cool & Vicious, gained traction, but it was the B side to “Tramp,” 1987’s “Push It,” that would catapult them onto the charts. Peaking at 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song’s real impact came with its nomination for Best Rap Performance at the Grammys in 1989 – the award’s first-ever prize in the rap genre – and a re-released album with the hit track went platinum.
By 1990, Salt-N-Pepa began to flex creative independence with their album Blacks’ Magic, with Salt writing and producing “Expression,” their first track to top the Hot Rap Singles chart. Salt-N-Pepa spoke to a country shaken by the AIDS epidemic with “Let’s Talk About Sex,” a brazen yet honest call for safety and agency. 1993’s “None of Your Business,” off the group’s LP Very Necessary, challenged sexual norms and gender roles even harder, and the track’s Grammy win – a first for women in rap – proved their message landed. Additional hot singles “Whatta Man” (with En Vogue) and the Salt-N-Pepa–penned “Shoop” helped drive the album to five times platinum.
Salt-N-Pepa received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Grammys, the first female rappers to enjoy the honor. The group has inspired five decades of female MCs – MC Lyte said, “There’s no way that I can say that I wasn’t influenced by Salt-N-Pepa.” Their undeniably provocative, fresh style and worldwide commercial success broke ground for women in rap.
Warren ZevonMusical Influence Award
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Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon was an artist’s artist. One of the most talented and significant singer-songwriters to emerge in the 1970s, Zevon wrote poetic but offbeat songs, often with darkly humorous and acerbic lyrics, and delivered them with a dry wit and a twisted energy like no other performer could. Throughout his career, Zevon built a devoted fan base and earned the respect of his greatest peers, including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young.
Trained as a classical pianist, Zevon began his career in the 1960s as a composer of commercial jingles, a writer of pop songs (including two recorded by the Turtles), and a singer in the folk-pop duo Lyme & Cybelle, followed by several years doing session work and touring with musicians including the Everly Brothers. Zevon’s self-titled album, released in 1976 and produced by his friend Jackson Browne, won glowing reviews from critics and admiration from artists including Linda Ronstadt, who covered four of its songs. The follow up album, Excitable Boy (1978), featured the smash hit “Werewolves of London,” which climbed the singles charts and earned Zevon a cult following that remained for his entire career.
After releasing more than a dozen critically acclaimed albums, Zevon was diagnosed with an inoperable form of lung cancer in 2002. He spent the final months of his life completing his last album, The Wind (2003), which featured contributions from numerous friends and admirers including Browne, Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, and Tom Petty. Zevon died two weeks after the release of the album, which earned two Grammy Awards.
While he never achieved the level of fame and recognition he deserved, Zevon was adored by music critics, revered by his contemporaries, and deeply loved by his fans. “He was and remains one of my favorite songwriters,” said David Crosby. “He saw things with a jaundiced eye that still got the humanity of things.” Zevon’s musical legacy lives on in the work of rock and country troubadours Eddie Vedder, Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Taylor Goldsmith, and many others.
Thom BellMusical Excellence Award
Credit: Photo by Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images provided by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Thom Bell
With a career that spanned more than six decades, producer/arranger/songwriter/musician Thom Bell was, along with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, one of the “Mighty Three” figures in the creation of the Philadelphia Sound, a brand of soul music typified by lush arrangements and sophisticated funk. A prolific creator, Bell’s work crafting hit after hit for artists like the Delfonics, the Stylistics, the Spinners, and many more, laid the groundwork for the disco of the 1970s and R&B of the 1980s.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Thomas Bell moved to Philly with his parents at age 4. He began studying classical music as a teen with the aim of becoming a conductor. After forming a short-lived doo-wop group with Gamble and a stint as a session musician and songwriter for Cameo Records, Bell met local group the Delfonics. Bell cowrote and produced two hits for the group, “La-La (Means I Love You)” and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time).” Bell then teamed up with Gamble and Huff, first in a record production company, then on Mighty Three Music, a publishing company for their songs.
Bell’s classical training and love of unusual instrumentation, partially inspired by the distinctive film scores of Italian composers Ennio Morricone, set him apart from other soul writers and arrangers and resulted in songs that felt both fresh and timeless. This includes songs he cowrote, like “I’ll Be Around” by the Spinners and “Brand New Me” by Dusty Springfield; songs he arranged, such as “Back Stabbers” by the O’Jays and “Me & Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul; and albums he produced for artists ranging from Dionne Warwick to Elton John to James Ingram.
Thom Bell was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2016. Bell said, “Invariably, when other producers and musicians would say that my sounds were odd for R&B, I would just tell them, ‘I don’t do R&B — I do music.’” Bell passed away in 2022, and his influence can be heard in an array of soulful artists, including David Bowie, Carole King, Hall and Oates, George Michael, Jill Scott, and Jazmine Sullivan.
Nicky HopkinsMusical Excellence Award
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Nicky Hopkins
Ahero of the piano, Nicky Hopkins played on over 250 albums during his career. Helping to craft classic songs by the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Kinks, the Who, Jeff Beck Group, Steve Miller Band, and Jefferson Airplane, Hopkins was one of the most in-demand session musicians in rock & roll for more than three decades. Hopkins’ playing transcended genre: From the locomotive boogie-woogie and blues of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis to the virtuosic expressiveness of Rachmaninoff, Hopkins was known for finding the “magical spaces between the guitars that would wind up filling out the song.”
Hopkins was only 16 in 1960, when he left the London Academy of Music to begin performing professionally with Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages. Hopkins’ formal training made him an asset as a session musician to legendary producers like Shel Talmy (Who, Kinks), Andrew Loog Oldham (Rolling Stones), and George Martin (Beatles).
After providing keyboards on early Kinks and Who albums, Hopkins’ big break came in 1967 when he began working with the Rolling Stones on Their Satanic Majesties Request, a relationship that continued through 1981’s Tattoo You. Having declined an offer to join Led Zeppelin (then, the New Yardbirds), Hopkins did join several other bands, including the Jeff Beck Group (1968-1969), Quicksilver Messenger Service (1969-1970), and Jerry Garcia Band (1975). Most notably, Hopkins played with Jefferson Airplane at Woodstock in 1969 and on the Rolling Stones’ legendary 1972 North American tour.
Although chronic health issues led to Hopkins’ early death at age 50 in 1994, his career discography was expansive. From collaborations with everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Zappa, Hopkins’ influence on the music of the 1960s London scene and the West Coast American scene of the 1970s is unmistakable. Hopkins’ piano shaped the sound of the era and still reverberates today on essential songs like the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” Jefferson Airplane’s “Volunteers,” Jeff Beck’s “Beck’s Bolero,” and Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful.”
Carol KayeMusical Excellence Award
Credit: Photo provided by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye is a pioneering bassist who shaped the sound of modern music. With her inventive lines and impeccable timing, Kaye was a key architect behind countless rock, pop, R&B, and film recordings. Though rarely in the spotlight, her playing powered the work of legends, from the Beach Boys and Simon and Garfunkel to the Supremes and Frank Zappa.
A first-call member of the elite stable of Los Angeles session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew, Kaye played on an estimated 10,000 recordings, making her one of the most recorded bassists in history. Her musical intuition, sense of rhythm, and deep understanding of harmony redefined what the electric bass could do in popular music – serving not just as a supporting instrument but also as a melodic voice central to composition, arrangement, and groove.
Kaye began her career in the 1950s as a guitar teacher and jazz guitarist performing in clubs around Southern California. She started doing session work in 1957 and transitioned to electric bass in 1963 – a move that would make her a cornerstone of the booming Los Angeles studio scene. From that point forward, Kaye became indispensable. Her propulsive, melodic bass lines can be heard on everything from the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” to Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman” to the theme from Mission: Impossible. Whether she was laying down grooves for Motown’s West Coast sessions or contributing to film soundtracks under composers like Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin, Kaye brought unparalleled versatility and precision to every recording.
Beyond her session work, Kaye was also a respected educator, authoring bass instruction books and videos and teaching generations of musicians how to approach the instrument with feel and finesse. As one of the most prolific and influential musicians of all time, she shattered gender barriers and inspired generations of female musicians to pick up the bass. In a career spanning over 65 years, Carol Kaye is a foundational figure in American music – a groundbreaking artist whose playing still resonates through every note of the immortal songs she helped create.
Lenny WaronkerAhmet Ertegun Award
Credit: Photo provided by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Lenny Waronker
Lenny Waronker is celebrated for his artist-first philosophy and transformative leadership. As head of A&R and later president at Warner Bros., he championed creative freedom for artists, forging an environment where musicians could innovate free from the confines of commercial pressure. Alongside his mentor and Rock Hall Inductee Mo Ostin, he turned Warner Bros. into a juggernaut, but also a haven where musicians felt trusted, empowered, and true to themselves.
Waronker got the music bug at an early age. When he was 13, his father, Simon, formed Liberty Records. While in college, Waronker worked in the A&R department at Liberty, eventually producing song demos for the label. “I realized how important it was to get the song right – and get the vision of the songwriter right,” remembers Waronker. Those demos led to an A&R job at Warner Bros., where he would soon produce a pair of hit singles – the Mojo Men’s “Sit Down, I Think I Love You” and Harpers Bizarre’s “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).” In 1970, Waronker became head of A&R at Warner Bros. Over the course of the next decade, he produced numerous acclaimed albums, including groundbreaking debuts by Ry Cooder, Rickie Lee Jones, Maria Muldaur, Randy Newman, and Van Dyke Parks. His production of the Everly Brothers autobiographical album Roots (1968) contributed to the growing country-rock movement.
In 1982, Waronker was appointed president of Warner Bros., ushering in a seismic sea change for the music industry – a label president who came right from the studio. Ostin recalls, “It was a very important statement. It was clearly an effort on our part to say that this is a company that is about music.” Under the dual leadership of Ostin and Waronker, Warner Bros. thrived, becoming one of the most successful record companies in the world. In 1996, Waronker cofounded DreamWorks Records, where he would launch the careers of Nelly Furtado, Elliott Smith, and Rufus Wainwright. Through it all, Waronker remained steadfast in his belief in artistry and quality: “I have always been dedicated to quality and understanding the artist and the artistic vision,” he has said. “Those really are the most important issues, as opposed to sales.”
Lenny Waronker gave artists a home, nurtured their sound, and redefined leadership within the music industry. His records redefined genres and outlasted trends. He was a visionary producer, a trusted tastemaker, and a champion of artistry. “I’m not your typical record executive. I think that’s one of the reasons it works.”
