Bad Company finally gets nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, could Johnny Winter and Rory Gallagher be next?

By Steve Newton

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its nominees for the class of 2025 today, and finally decided to live up to its name a little bit.

The Cleveland-based museum–long disparaged for ignoring influential rock musicians in favour of multiplatinum pop and hip-hop stars–nominated such rockin’ acts Bad Company, Soundgarden, the Black Crowes, and Billy Idol.

But in the case of Bad Company, the Rock Hall really came to the party late. The British rock supergroup–composed of vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke from Free, guitarist Mick Ralphs from Mott the Hoople, and bassist Boz Burrell from King Crimson–has been eligible for nomination for over a quarter century.

Newt’s Rock Hall–the Vancouver-area institution I launched in 2015 to draw attention to all of the official Rock Hall’s flagrant violations–actually inducted Bad Company in 2023, a class that also included Seattle grunge greats Soundgarden.

But the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame pulling its head out of its butt long enough to acknowledge an overlooked band like Bad Company does not justify its most egregious abuses in the name of “rock and roll”. For years I’ve been bitchslapping those Cleveland clowns for having the audacity to not induct–or even nominate–both Johnny Winter and Rory Gallagher.

I mean, what the actual fvck! The Rock Hall has been blatantly ignoring those two titans of rock ‘n’ roll for decades, and yet, today, they’re giving the nod to Cyndi Freakin’ Lauper?

I just don’t get it.

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