Danny's five nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

By Danny R. Phillips

Opinion Piece: Five Nominees for The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2025 Who Should Get In

Mariah Carey will most likely get in this year while the more deserving outfit, Joy Division/ New Order, will possibly be made to wait.

Which begs the question: is the Rock Hall a place of celebration and admiration for the decadent art form that is Rock Music, or is it a place of mediocrity that equates record sales with greatness, and magazine covers and glossy smiles with legendary status. Fiction and lack of talent wrapped in a pretty package, sealed tight with hundred dollars bills and the hollow kudos of acolytes.

In 2025, The Rock Hall has a chance to get it right with the list of nominees set before them, a chance to have a truly solid class for the first time in years.

Here are my picks for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2025 from the list of potential inductees.

Soundgarden: This one is a no-brainer for me. Sludge heavy riffs behind arguably the greatest voice of the Grunge movement, Chris Cornell, the band helped define the heavier side of the Seattle Sound. With classic albums like “Louder Than Love,” “Superknown,” “Down on the Upside,” and the masterwork “Badmotorfinger,” the band’s willingness to embrace 1970’s heavy rock was a solid counterpunch to the more punk leaning bands in the scene at the time. If there’s justice in the world, Soundgarden and their great power will be recognized by The Hall.

Joy Division/New Order: An undeniable influence on what would come to be considered post punk, Joy Division, with its enigmatic frontman Ian Curtis, gave the music world a dark template for emo and goth to come. Unforgettable tracks like “Dead Souls,” “Shadowplay,” and perhaps one of the best songs ever, “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” decorate an all too short, sad career.

Following Curtis’ tragic suicide on the eve of what would have been Joy Division’s first American tour, the surviving members of Joy Division pushed ahead as New Order, taking a different sonic direction. Leaning more on synth and nearly-danceable beats, the band rose about loss with “Bizarre Love Triangle,” “Blue Monday,” and my personal favorite, “Regret.” Nominating both bands together as a unit is a classy move.

The White Stripes: The dynamic duo of Jack and Meg White getting voted in this time around is more up in the air, but I vote yes.

The duo from Detroit that spearheaded the “garage rock” revival of the early 2000s, The White Stripes released solid albums, not just solid singles; whether it be “DeStijl,” “Elephant,” or “White Blood Cells,” the band’s knowledge of early blues and underground 60’s bands like The Sonics or The Seeds, helped transform the band into a groundbreaking giant. To this day, The White Stripes stand as one of the best bands I’ve ever witnessed live.

Billy Idol: Idol, formerly of the seminal English punk rock band Generation X, was my introduction to what I would later learn was punk. Through a career that has peppered decades with hits like “White Wedding,” “Dancin’ with Myself” (which he originally recorded with the aforementioned Generation X), “Rebel Yell,” and “Eyes without a Face,” Idol alongside long-time collaborator/guitarist Steve Stevens, has built a solid place in history more than worthy of inclusion at the Shrine in Cleveland.

The Black Crowes: Born in Atlanta, The Black Crowes are perhaps the most straight ahead rock n’ roll band of the five featured here. Blending soul, barroom rock, the blues, and party time Southern rock, The Black Crowes released some of the best records of the nineties with “Amorica, “Shake Your Money Maker,” and their exceptional sophomore effort, “Southern Harmony and Musical Companion.” Burners like “Jealous Again,” their cover of the Otis Redding jam “Hard to Handle,” the stirring “Sometimes Salvation,” the stomper “Hotel Illness,” and many others, highlight a career where the roots of rock were explored, followed, and expanded.

If the Hall is actually about rock n’ roll, then the Black Crowes, who clearly understood the assignment, deserve to get the passing grade and a warm welcome.

And there you have it.
Tune in next time for “Bands that Should Be in The Hall but Aren’t”