NEW YORK (AP) — Eminem, Boy George, George Clinton Sheryl Crow, Janet Jackson, the Doobie Brothers, NWA and Alanis Morissette are among the nominees for the Class of 2025 at the Songwriters Hall of Fame, an eclectic group of rap, rock, hip-hop and pop pioneers.
The vote also includes Bryan Adams, with radio hits like “Summer of ’69” and “Have You Ever Real Loved a Woman?”, and Mike Love of the Beach Boys, who hope to come in 25 years after band founder Brian Wilson. . David Gates, co-lead singer of the pop music group Bread, is also looking to join.
The Hall annually introduces both artists and non-artists, and this year the latter category includes Walter Afanasieff, who helped Mariah Carey with her hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You;” Mike Chapman, who co-wrote Pat Benatar’s ‘Love Is a Battlefield’; and Narada Michael Walden, the architect of Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” and Aretha Franklin’s “Freeway of Love.”
Eligible members have until December 22 to submit their ballot with their choice of three nominees from the songwriter category and three from the performing songwriter category. The Associated Press obtained an early copy of the list.
Several artists are getting another shot at entry, including Clinton, whose Parliament-Funkadelic collective was hugely influential with hits like “Atomic Dog” and “Give Up the Funk,” and The Doobie Brothers – Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and Michael McDonald – with classics such as “Listen to the Music” and “Long Train Runnin”. Steve Winwood, whose hits include “Higher Love” and “Roll With It,” has also been on the ballot before.
Hip-hop is represented this year by Eminem – whose hits include ‘Lose Yourself’ and ‘Stan’ – and NWA members Dr. Dre, Eazy E, Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella. The Hall already hosts hip-hop stars such as Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Missy Elliot. Tommy James, with hits like ‘Mony Mony’, ‘Crimson and Clover’ and ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’, has also earned a nod.
When Jackson, whose 1989 album ‘Rhythm Nation’ was a landmark, enters the Hall, it will be more than 20 years after her late brother Michael. Canadian songwriter Morissette, whose influential “Jagged Little Pill” has won Grammys, Tonys, Junos and MTV awards, would also add to the rocking women in the Hall. (Glen Ballard, who helped produce and write the album, is already in.)
Like Crow, the singer-songwriter of “All I Wanna Do” and “Everyday Is a Winding Road” is enjoying a critical resurgence after being included in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. Boy George raises the flag for ’80s New Wave with the Culture Club hits “Karma Chameleon” and “Do You Real Want to Hurt Me.”
Other nominees for the non-performer category include Franne Golde, who co-wrote Selena’s ‘Dreaming of You’; Tom Douglas, who wrote country hits for Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert; Ashley Gorley, fresh off his co-writing hit “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen; and Roger Nichols, who co-wrote The Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun.”
They join Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, who contributed to Brandy and Monica’s hit “The Boy Is Mine”; Sonny Curtis, former member of the Crickets who wrote and performed the theme song for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Love is All Around,” and British composer Tony Macaulay, who wrote “Build Me Up Buttercup.”
The Hall also introduced three songwriting teams: Steve Barri and PF Sloan, who wrote “Secret Agent Man”; and Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, who wrote the Four Tops hit “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)”; and Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, who wrote the Percy Sledge song “Out of Left Field.”
The Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 to honor those who created popular music. A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs is eligible for induction 20 years after a song’s first commercial release.
Some already in the room include Carole King, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Lionel Richie, Bill Withers, Neil Diamond and Phil Collins. Last year saw REM, Steely Dan, Dean Pitchford, Hillary Lindsey and Timbaland initiated.