Outkast, Phish, Chubby Checker Among First-Time Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees

It's that time again. The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has unveiled the list of 14 artist who are nominated for this year's induction ceremony. Artists are eligible for inclusion 25 years after their first release, so anyone who put out a debut in 2000 could theoretically be on this ballot. But with apologies to Linkin Park, Nelly, Sufjan Stevens, and Gorillaz, none of them made the cut. Instead, this year's first-time nominees are Outkast, Phish, Billy Idol, the Black Crowes, Bad Company, Joe Cocker, Maná, and Chubby Checker -- eight of the 14 artists on the ballot. All of these first-time nominees have been eligible for years. Chubby Checker, in particular, has been eligible for a long time.

Those artists will compete against a bunch of artists who made the cut in prior years: Mariah Carey, Oasis, the White Stripes, Soundgarden, Cyndi Lauper, and Joy Division and New Order who are nominated as a single entity for the second time.

Naturally, there are plenty of storylines to consider here. Mariah Carey was nominated for the first time last year, but she wasn't inducted. A few months ago, she lamented, "I was excited about it. But then it didn’t happen. My lawyer [Allen Grubman] got into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before me." (Grubman was inducted in 2022 with the Ahmet Ertegun Award, which goes to non-performers.) Liam Gallagher of Oasis, another first-time nominee last year, posted, "Fuck the Rock n Roll hall of fame its full of BUMBACLARTS," among other things. But that was before we knew he and his brother Noel were reuniting. Now back together, Oasis have another shot. They must be so excited.

Early-'60s hitmaker Chubby Checker has been lobbying for Hall Of Fame inclusion basically since the institution was created. He's been eligible since 1985, the year before the first induction class, and he's never even been nominated. Back in 2014, Checker said, "I don’t want to get in there when I’m 85 years old. I’ll tell them to drop dead, so you better do it quick while I’m still smiling." (He's 83 now.) For a little while, the Hall Of Fame had a category just for singles, and Checker's signature song "The Twist" was inducted in 2018, but this is the first time the man himself has been granted that honor. Also, Village People wanted to get in this year, but it won't happen.

Here's this year's full list of nominees:
• Bad Company
• The Black Crowes
• Mariah Carey
• Chubby Checker
• Joe Cocker
• Billy Idol
• Joy Division/New Order
• Cyndi Lauper
• Maná
• Oasis
• Outkast
• Phish
• Soundgarden
• The White Stripes

The annual fan vote poll is now open; the top five vote getters will count as a single ballot alongside more than a thousand from the voting committee. This year's inductees will be announced in late April, and the induction ceremony will happen this fall in Los Angeles.

UPDATE: "RNR hall of fame is for WANKERS," Liam Gallagher posted on X in response to Oasis’ nomination today. When asked what he’s going to do if he wins, he added, "Obv go and say it’s the best thing EVER."

Meanwhile Maná, the first Spanish-language band to be nominated, say, "We want to share this recognition with all Latinos everywhere, especially the immigrants who are suffering right now."