With each passing year, I become more and more convinced that the reason a place like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) exists is to give fans a chance to bitch and moan about who is not included.
For every “Gee, it’s great to see (X artist) get in” post I see, there seem to be twice as many “How dare they exclude (Y artist)!!!” And yes, those posts do typically add at least three exclamation points.
This year is no exception. Seven out of the 14 musical acts that were nominated as performers will be inducted. Six other individuals (seven since one is a duo) will go in under different categories. I am happy to see Warren Zevon finally get recognized. I’m not sure why he is a “musical influence” instead of a performer, but so be it.
You see how this works? Even when I am applauding an induction, I’m still complaining about it.
Who didn't make the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025 and how big was the snub?
So, no matter how delighted I may be that Soundgarden and the White Stripes are getting in, I’m focusing today on the snubs. We’ll rank the seven acts that were denied entry this year in ascending order of snub factor. (This is not a technical, scientific term, though perhaps it should be.) On a scale ranging from 1-10…
Mana – Snub Factor: 1
Mana’s nomination was a necessary foot in the door. In the not-too-distant future, Latin rock and pop acts will begin joining Santana in the RRHOF, and many of those acts will sing in Spanish. Mana has a worthy international profile, but there was no way they were going to get in this year.
Their supporters, who probably have never given much thought to the RRHOF, did not show up in the online fan voting. But they succeeded in putting Mana’s name before the public and getting at least some curious listeners to seek them out. This was just a first step.
Phish - Snub Factor: 2.5
Phish’s fans showed up in droves. They won the online voting contest, which, it turns out, doesn’t matter. The only other time the online winner didn’t get inducted was when it happened to the Dave Matthews Band a couple of years ago. But DMB did get in last year.
Will the same happen to Phish? They have a rabid fan base and are an iconic live jam band. Their record sales and breadth of reach don’t come anywhere near many other recognized bands, so Phish will remain a long shot.
Black Crowes - Snub Factor: 4
I like the Black Crowes. Of all the artists that were denied induction this year, they are my second favorite. But that’s just a personal opinion. If I try to be objective (and objectivity is, of course, a standard quality in most rock fans), I think their resume does come up a little short.
The standard sports HOF threshold is “were they ever among the very best in their particular line of work, even if that period didn’t last all that long?” I don’t think you can say that about the Black Crowes. They were always solid. But maybe not HOF.
I will say, however, that the Robinson brothers are not done yet. 2024’s Happiness Bastards, their first studio album in more than a decade, was pretty damn good. The Black Crowes are still building a resume.
Joy Division/New Order - Snub Factor: 6.5
This is where it gets tough for me. You see, I don’t personally enjoy the direction that Ian Curtis took a particular form of rock music in the late ‘70s. But there’s no denying the influence that he had, and that Bernard Summer, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris continued after Curtis’ tragic death in 1980.
The Velvet Underground and Frank Zappa are appropriately in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for their influence, not for their record sales. Whereas I don’t think Phish has been influential enough to counteract their sales numbers, Joy Division and New Order can make a stronger case.
They remain something of a niche act, and perhaps they are ultimately getting in the way Zevon did, as a musical influence.
Mariah Carey - Snub Factor: 7.5
Carey is the most interesting name on the snubs list. A lot of us, myself included, figured she was a lock. The reasoning went that the RRHOF has thrown its doors open to rock-adjacent artists from the world of pop, hip hop, and country.
If you do that, how can you keep Carey out? She is among the most successful pop artists in modern music history.
But she has been denied twice now, and it's beginning to look like Mariah Carey may be the Maginot Line for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame against the encroaching armies of pop. If you don’t know what the Maginot Line is, you should have paid more attention in history class.
Billy Idol - Snub Factor: 9
This one hurts. Billy Idol is far and away my personal favorite on the snubs list. I know lots of my contemporaries (i.e., old people) are happy that Chubby Checker finally got his due. I can take or leave Checker.
Billy Idol has a much stronger case. Both as a seminal part of the early punk scene in Generation X and then as a solo artist in the ‘80s, Idol was a significant figure in rock and roll. I mean, come on. When Adam Sandler needed a symbol of rock stardom for his 1998 movie The Wedding Singer, he turned to Idol.
Twenty-five years later, Workday built an entire ad campaign around the fact that Billy Idol is a rock star. And if you can’t trust a major player like Ogilvy to determine what is and isn’t a pop culture standard, I don’t know who you can trust.
Oasis - Snub Factor: 10
I don’t like Oasis. But they hit the benchmark I alluded to above. For a good chunk of the ‘90s, they were among the biggest rock acts in the world. They are being denied entry because the Gallagher brothers have expressed their contempt for the entire concept of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
That’s fine. The RRHOF can do whatever they want when it comes to letting artists into their clubhouse. I doubt I would invite the Gallaghers into my house either. But you cannot claim to be representative of rock and roll’s past and present without Oasis.
RRHOF's mission statement says the Hall “celebrates the sound of youth culture.” Between 1994 and 2008, Oasis released seven studio albums. Every one of them hit number one in the U.K. and charted (three in the top ten) in the USA. That is the sound of youth culture.