Rock & Roll Hall of Fame picks Outkast but not Oasis
LOS ANGELES — Innovative rap group Outkast, pop star Cyndi Lauper and 1960s pioneer Chubby Checker have all won places in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
This year's inductees were revealed live on American Idol, with the UK represented by hard rock band Bad Company and gravel-voiced eccentric Joe Cocker, 11 years after his death from lung cancer.
However, Manchester bands Oasis and Joy Division/New Order failed to qualify from the shortlist.
Performers become eligible for inclusion 25 years after the release of their first commercial recording. The nominations are voted on by more than 1,200 music historians, industry professionals and previously inducted artists.
The full list of performers to be inducted this year is:
Bad Company
Chubby Checker
Joe Cocker
Cyndi Lauper
Outkast
Soundgarden
The White Stripes
Salt-N-Pepa, the first commercially successful female rap group, will also receive the musical influence award, alongside Warren Zevon — a cult singer-songwriter who was revered by Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.
The induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on 8 November, and will be streamed live on Disney+.
"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 the Hall of Fame's chairman John Sykes.
"Their music gave a voice to generations and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps."
However, equal amounts of attention will be paid to the artists who didn't make it into the hallowed hall, which encompasses all genres of popular music.
Mariah Carey's omission, in particular, will be seen as an egregious oversight.
With 19 US number one singles, she is second only to The Beatles in terms of chart success.
Her self-titled debut album spent 11 weeks at the top of the Billboard chart in 1990, and her Christmas classic, All I Want For Christmas Is You, is the 11th best-selling single of all time.
This is the second time she has been overlooked by the Rock Hall's voters.
Asked for her thoughts on being snubbed last year, Carey said: "My thoughts are, I didn't get in."
A second snub will embolden critics who say the Hall of Fame has a poor record of admitting women.
Lauper, who did make it through the voting process, was the only other woman on this year's main ballot.
Oasis were also passed over for a second time, having been nominated in 2024.
But singer Liam Gallagher has previously criticized the institution, saying he wasn't interested in receiving an award from "some geriatric in a cowboy hat".
Veteran jam band Phish also missed out on a place — despite winning a fan vote that counted towards this year's ceremony.
However, losing a nomination doesn't mean an artist is disqualified from future ceremonies. Nile Rodgers and Chic famously had to sit through 11 nominations before they were finally inducted in 2017.
A similar story emerges this year for Checker, whose song The Twist became a global phenomenon in 1960.
The star, now 83, was ignored by the Rock Hall for years, even as contemporaries like Sam Cooke, Bill Haley, Wilson Pickett and Fats Domino were admitted.
In 2001, Checker took out a full-page ad in Billboard magazine calling on the Rock Hall to recognise him for the song that, he said, became "the biggest dance of the century".
"I want my flowers while I'm alive," he wrote. "I can't smell them when I'm dead."
Demanding a statue in the courtyard of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he added: "I will not have the music business ignore my position in the industry."
That wish has finally been granted.
This year's other inductees include Outkast — aka André 3000 and Big Boi.
Known for hits like Ms Jackson, Rosa Parks and Hey Ya!, their swampy Southern rhythms and bohemian take on hip-hop changed the sound of the genre in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Soundgarden, best known for grunge anthem Black Hole Sun, have also earned a place; as have The White Stripes — the garage rock band formed by Jack and Meg White in 1997, whose hits include Seven Nation Army, Hotel Yorba and Fell In Love With A Girl.
Fans will speculate about whether Meg, who hasn't been seen in public since 2009, will attend the induction ceremony.
There are also musical excellence awards for Thom Bell, an architect of the Philadelphia Soul sound, and English pianist Nicky Hopkins, who contributed to records by The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Who.
US guitarist Carol Kaye, whose fretwork can be heard on classic tracks like You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling and the theme to Mission: Impossible, receives the same honor.
Finally, record executive Lenny Waronker, who helped develop acts like Madonna, REM and Prince, will receive the Ahmet Ertegun award, given to non-performers who have had a major influence on rock music. — BBC
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Arab News
09-05-2025
- Arab News
Saudi ‘farm for experimentation' on show in Milan exhibition
AL-AHSA: Saudi Arabia's lush oasis of Al-Ahsa will be in full bloom in Italy next week at the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition, which runs from May 13 to Nov. 9 at Milan's Palazzo dell'Arte. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ Al-Ahsa is officially recognized as the world's largest oasis, and is home to more than 2.5 million date palms. The Kingdom's debut pavilion at the exhibition is 'Maghras: A Farm for Experimentation,' which, according to the exhibition's website, is 'structured as a transplanted maghras — a unit of land demarcated by four palm trees' and 'symbolically frames the dialogues, material traces, soundscapes of field recordings, and speculative gestures emerging from the space.' The pavilion, commissioned by the Architecture and Design Commission under the Ministry of Culture, and curated by longtime friends Lulu Almana and Sara Al-Omran, along with US-based creative director Alejandro Stein, is inspired by Al-Ahsa's Al-Sbakh Farm, established by the late Noura AlMousa. The farm is now managed by the Abdulmonem Alrashed Humanitarian Foundation (named after its founder, AlMousa's son) and the Noura AlMousa House for Culture and Arts, housed in AlMousa's former home. 'We're really continuing on the lineage of the matriarch,' Al-Omran tells Arab News when we meet the curators at the farm. 'Her spirit feels very present because she really cared about craft and culture.' Almana and Al-Omran commissioned three Saudi artists to work on the pavilion: Leen Ajlan, a London-based designer from Jeddah; Mohammed Alfaraj, a contemporary artist whose family have been farming in Al-Ahsa for generations; and Tara Aldughaither, founder of Sawtasura, an audio research and learning platform focused primarily on female voices. Through videos, sound installations, and participatory programs, the pavilion will invite visitors to engage with the evolving agricultural ecosystems of Al-Ahsa. The maghras concept symbolically ties the exhibition to the land, offering an immersive experience that bridges past traditions with contemporary agricultural practices. 'Technically, there are three participating artists but it's more than that — there is a big team,' Almana says. 'Then there's all the research that's being displayed through illustrations and maps and texts that the team worked on. There's also all the programs and workshops that have been a big part of it.' The fruits of this collective effort will be published in a book later this year. Al-Omran explains that her grandparents are from Al-Ahsa. 'I always hear, particularly from my grandfather, these stories of Al-Ahsa. And when he speaks about it, it feels like this mythical place that doesn't really connect to what I see here (now),' she says. 'I grew up in (Alkhobar), but would come here every week. Many of my best memories were here; running around on the farm, seeing the frogs and the rabbits and the sheep and playing around. And also understanding seasons and seeing crops and produce. But through conversations with him, I saw this contrast of the place that he talks about and the place I'm witnessing. And I realize that it's really within a lifetime that the environment has shifted so much.' Al-Omran's family, including her grandfather, attended the opening event at Al-Sbakh Farm last autumn, where they saw their hometown celebrated in a new light. 'They're proud. They're really happy to see that Al-Ahsa is spoken about,' Al-Omran says. 'They see that it's not just about the past, but a way of thinking about the future.' The unfolding narrative of the project has emphasized community engagement. 'It was really nice and natural,' says Almana. 'It didn't feel forced in any way. People were saying, 'You're doing something important.' It felt impactful despite its small gestures.' After nearly a decade of living abroad in large, congested cities including London and New York, Almana says the initial intention for this project, for her, 'was that I needed to get rooted into a place, build knowledge, and build a community of like-minded people who share similar concerns, questions and values: How do we preserve the identity of a place that's constantly changing? How do we share our concerns and ideas for regeneration, for reviving certain things? It matters to build a community around these questions. 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Al-Omran stresses the amount of research that was involved in creating the pavilion. 'We're looking at a display of research material that we assembled for our first event back in October. And at that point we had spent about three or four months looking at archival research and doing a lot of interviews.' The first activation was both a presentation and a checkpoint. 'We wanted to take a moment to sift through the material we'd come across and the conversations we'd listened to. It was important to do that during the opening, where we welcomed the community and spoke about the project, because it was important to hear people's reflections on the research as it emerges; we felt that would influence the direction,' she says. 'Sometimes we don't really realize what's lost until generations have passed. And it felt like we were in a moment where the shifts are happening,' she continues. 'So it felt urgent to talk about it now, while that generation is still around.'
Saudi Gazette
28-04-2025
- Saudi Gazette
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame picks Outkast but not Oasis
LOS ANGELES — Innovative rap group Outkast, pop star Cyndi Lauper and 1960s pioneer Chubby Checker have all won places in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This year's inductees were revealed live on American Idol, with the UK represented by hard rock band Bad Company and gravel-voiced eccentric Joe Cocker, 11 years after his death from lung cancer. However, Manchester bands Oasis and Joy Division/New Order failed to qualify from the shortlist. Performers become eligible for inclusion 25 years after the release of their first commercial recording. The nominations are voted on by more than 1,200 music historians, industry professionals and previously inducted artists. The full list of performers to be inducted this year is: Bad Company Chubby Checker Joe Cocker Cyndi Lauper Outkast Soundgarden The White Stripes Salt-N-Pepa, the first commercially successful female rap group, will also receive the musical influence award, alongside Warren Zevon — a cult singer-songwriter who was revered by Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. The induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on 8 November, and will be streamed live on Disney+. "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 the Hall of Fame's chairman John Sykes. "Their music gave a voice to generations and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps." However, equal amounts of attention will be paid to the artists who didn't make it into the hallowed hall, which encompasses all genres of popular music. Mariah Carey's omission, in particular, will be seen as an egregious oversight. With 19 US number one singles, she is second only to The Beatles in terms of chart success. Her self-titled debut album spent 11 weeks at the top of the Billboard chart in 1990, and her Christmas classic, All I Want For Christmas Is You, is the 11th best-selling single of all time. This is the second time she has been overlooked by the Rock Hall's voters. Asked for her thoughts on being snubbed last year, Carey said: "My thoughts are, I didn't get in." A second snub will embolden critics who say the Hall of Fame has a poor record of admitting women. Lauper, who did make it through the voting process, was the only other woman on this year's main ballot. Oasis were also passed over for a second time, having been nominated in 2024. But singer Liam Gallagher has previously criticized the institution, saying he wasn't interested in receiving an award from "some geriatric in a cowboy hat". Veteran jam band Phish also missed out on a place — despite winning a fan vote that counted towards this year's ceremony. However, losing a nomination doesn't mean an artist is disqualified from future ceremonies. Nile Rodgers and Chic famously had to sit through 11 nominations before they were finally inducted in 2017. A similar story emerges this year for Checker, whose song The Twist became a global phenomenon in 1960. The star, now 83, was ignored by the Rock Hall for years, even as contemporaries like Sam Cooke, Bill Haley, Wilson Pickett and Fats Domino were admitted. In 2001, Checker took out a full-page ad in Billboard magazine calling on the Rock Hall to recognise him for the song that, he said, became "the biggest dance of the century". "I want my flowers while I'm alive," he wrote. "I can't smell them when I'm dead." Demanding a statue in the courtyard of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he added: "I will not have the music business ignore my position in the industry." That wish has finally been granted. This year's other inductees include Outkast — aka André 3000 and Big Boi. Known for hits like Ms Jackson, Rosa Parks and Hey Ya!, their swampy Southern rhythms and bohemian take on hip-hop changed the sound of the genre in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Soundgarden, best known for grunge anthem Black Hole Sun, have also earned a place; as have The White Stripes — the garage rock band formed by Jack and Meg White in 1997, whose hits include Seven Nation Army, Hotel Yorba and Fell In Love With A Girl. Fans will speculate about whether Meg, who hasn't been seen in public since 2009, will attend the induction ceremony. There are also musical excellence awards for Thom Bell, an architect of the Philadelphia Soul sound, and English pianist Nicky Hopkins, who contributed to records by The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Who. US guitarist Carol Kaye, whose fretwork can be heard on classic tracks like You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling and the theme to Mission: Impossible, receives the same honor. Finally, record executive Lenny Waronker, who helped develop acts like Madonna, REM and Prince, will receive the Ahmet Ertegun award, given to non-performers who have had a major influence on rock music. — BBC
Asharq Al-Awsat
28-04-2025
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Cyndi Lauper, Chubby Checker Chosen for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
"The Twist" singer Chubby Checker, pop star Cyndi Lauper and grunge rock band Soundgarden were among the acts chosen for induction this year into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest announced the 2025 inductees during the ABC singing competition show on Sunday. Others selected for the Rock Hall in Cleveland included English rock group Bad Company, hip-hop act Outkast, rock and blues singer Joe Cocker and garage rock duo The White Stripes. The artists will be inducted during a ceremony that will stream live on Disney+ from Los Angeles on Nov. 8. Inductees were chosen by fans and industry experts. Artists must have released their first recording at least 25 years ago to be eligible. A singer and dancer, the now 83-year-old Checker was known for popularizing various dance styles including the twist and the limbo in the 1960s. Bad Company came together in 1973 and recorded hits such as the self-titled "Bad Company". British singer Cocker made the music charts with songs such as "You are So Beautiful" and "Up Where We Belong" with Jennifer Warnes, and was known for his legendary cover of The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" performed at Woodstock. Lauper, 71, stood out in the 1980s during the heyday of music videos with her colorful hair and outfits and upbeat songs such as "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Soundgarden, part of the 1990s grunge rock scene in Seattle, was led by Chris Cornell, who died by suicide in 2017. "Hey Ya!" band Outkast was formed in Atlanta by Big Boi and Andre 3000 in 1992. The White Stripes, from Detroit, led a resurgence of garage rock in the 2000s.
