Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2025 includes OutKast, Soundgarden and Cyndi Lauper

by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced its 2025 class of inductees. The group of performers receiving the honor include a 1960's hitmaker who spent decades advocating for his own induction, a trailblazing Southern rap duo and a 1980's flamboyant pop superstar currently on her farewell tour.

"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, in a press release. "Their music gave a voice to generations and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps."

Here is the 2025 class of inductees:

Performer Category

According to the Rock Hall, this category recognizes "artists who have created music whose originality, impact, and influence has changed the course of rock & roll."

Bad Company

The English rock band released its self-titled debut album in 1974, which included its hit song "Can't Get Enough." The supergroup's original lineup featured vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke, who'd both been in the band Free, as well as former Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and former King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Though they've been eligible since 1999, Bad Company won induction on its first-ever nomination for the Rock Hall.

Chubby Checker 

Chubby Checker's 1960 cover of "The Twist" (which had been a minor hit for Hank Ballard and the Midnighters two years earlier) landed him at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart on two separate occasions. It's a definitive hit of the early rock era but Checker spent decades feeling underappreciated for his contributions to the genre. In 2001, he took out a full-page ad in Billboard magazine requesting not only induction to the Rock Hall, but also a separate courtyard statue in his honor. "I want my flowers while I'm alive," he wrote. "I can't smell them when I'm dead." It took a while for the Hall to prepare that bouquet — but like Bad Company, Checker is getting in on his first nomination.

Joe Cocker

The late English musician became a star in the U.S. with his raspy rendition of "With a Little Help from My Friends" at Woodstock in 1969. But he spent decades releasing albums and major hits, including "Feelin' Alright," "Up Where We Belong" and "You Are So Beautiful," which he told NPR in 2012 was among his favorites. Cocker was another first-time nominee this year.

Cyndi Lauper

Cyndi Lauper became a household name in the 1980's with a remarkable string of hits like the off-kilter girl power anthem "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and the pop ballad "Time After Time." But the eccentric, rainbow-haired Lauper reinvented her sound and image over the course of several decades, dabbling in genres like country, blues and rock and establishing herself as an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights. Announcement of her induction coincides with her ongoing farewell tour across the U.S. and Europe, and follows her second nomination for the Rock Hall. Whereas several members of Lauper's cohort of '80's hitmakers — like Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson — were inducted more than a decade ago, several of her contemporaries (George Michael, Duran Duran) did not make the cut until recently.

OutKast

When much of hip-hop's attention in the mid-1990s was focused on the west coast vs. east coast rivalry, OutKast turned heads in a completely new direction: towards the South. The groundbreaking duo made up of Big Boi and André 3000 released its debut album in 1994, when they were still teenagers, and marked Atlanta as an epicenter of musical innovation with albums like ATLiens, Aquemini and the Grammy-winning Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Over the last few years, the Hall has been admitting one hip-hop act each year — A Tribe Called Quest last year, Missy Elliott and Eminem and LL Cool J before that. But the Rock Hall isn't the only pop music institution who has failed to adequately reward the genre: In the 21 years since OutKast took the prize, no other rap album has won the Album of the Year prize at the Grammys. OutKast has been eligible since 2019. The group received its first nomination this year.

Soundgarden

Three-time Rock Hall nominee Soundgarden is finally being awarded for taking the Pacific Northwest's grunge scene with songs like "Black Hole Sun" and "Fell on Black Days." The Seattle-born band stood out for singer Chris Cornell's aggressive vocal style and a tortured edge that worked in the group's favor as metal turned grunge towards the late 1980's. Soundgarden broke up and reunited over the course of several decades and was reportedly working on new material at the time of Cornell's death in 2017.

The White Stripes

The White Stripes led the garage rock revival of the early '00's with songs like "Seven Nation Army" and "Fell in Love With a Girl." The guitar, drums and vocal duo made up of Jack and Meg White — who initially pretended to be siblings but were actually married, then divorced — are being inducted after their second nomination to the Rock Hall of Fame. Although the group achieved modest commercial success by Rock Hall standards, their influence remains monumental. The guitar riff in "Seven Nation Army" has become one of the most recognizable pieces of music released in the 2000's thanks to its widespread popularity as a soccer stadium chant.

The official induction ceremony will take place on November 8 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and will be streamed live on Disney+ with an ABC special to follow.