In 2003, Eminem made Oscar history with “Lose Yourself,” the first rap song to win Best Original Song. Now he's up for another top honor. They are one of 26 songwriters or groups of songwriters vying for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year.
Only six will be chosen – three out of 13 nominees in the performing songwriter category and three out of 13 nominees in the songwriter category, which is reserved for non-performing songwriters. The six inductees will be celebrated at SHOF's 2025 Induction & Awards Gala in New York City, which is expected to take place in June at the event's usual home, the Marriott Marquis.
All but five of the 26 candidates are private. The five partnerships on the ballot are Steve Barri and PF Sloan. Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham? three members of The Doobie Brothers (Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons); and five former members of NWA (Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella).
Almost all the candidates are still living. The only exceptions are Sloan, who died in 2015 at age 70, and NWA's Eazy-E, who died in 1995 at age 30.
The youngest candidates are Ashley Gorley and Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, both 47 years old. The list includes four women – Franne Golde, Sheryl Crow, Janet Jackson and Alanis Morissette.
Several songwriters closely related to songwriters previously inducted into the SHOF are on the ballot this year – Walter Afanasieff (frequent collaborator Mariah Carey inducted in 2022), Roger Nichols (frequent collaborator Paul Williams inducted in 2001). Jackson (her brother Michael Jackson inducted in 2002) and Mike Love (Beach Boys bandmate Brian Wilson inducted in 2000).
The list includes eight members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Crow, Eminem, Jackson, George Clinton (who is in the Rock Hall as leader of Parliament/Funkadelic), Love (who is in the Rock Hall as a member of The Beach Boys), Steve Winwood (who is in the Rock Hall as a member of Traffic), the three aforementioned members of The Doobie Brothers, and the five aforementioned former members of NWA
The list includes three members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Sonny Curtis was inducted into that body in 1991, followed by Tom Douglas in 2014 and Oldham in 2020. Curtis, 87, has had several pop and country hits, including “I Fought the Law” and “Walk Right Back “, but may be best known for writing “Love Is All Around,” the perfect theme song The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Three of the nominees are previous Grammy winners for Producer of the Year (Non-Classical). Narada Michael Walden won this award in 1988, primarily for his work with Whitney Houston. Afanasieff won in 2000, Dr. Dre in 2001.
A songwriter with a catalog of notable songs qualifies for induction 20 years after their first major commercial release of a song.
Voting members have until midnight ET on Dec. 22 to submit their ballots with their choices of up to three nominees in each of the two categories.
Here is a complete list of the 2025 Songwriters Hall of Fame nominees for induction. SHOF provided the five songs listed after each nominee's name, which they stress are “just a representative sample of their extensive catalogs.”
Songwriters
Walter Afanasyev – 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', 'Hero', 'License To Kill', 'Love Will Survive', 'One Sweet Day'
Steve Barri and PF Sloan – “Secret Agent Man”, “Eve Of Destruction”, “Where Were You When I Needed”, “You Baby”, “Can I Meet You”
Mike Chapman – “The Best”, “Love Is a Battlefield”, “Ballroom Blitz”, “Stumblin' In”, “Kiss You All Over”
Sonny Curtis – “Love Is All Around (Theme from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”), “I Fought the Law”, “Walk Right Back”, “More than I Can Say”, “I'm No Stranger to the Rain”
Tom Douglas – “The House That Built Me”, “Little Rock”, “I Run to You”, “Grown Men Don't Cry”, “Love Me Anyway”
Fran Gould – “I'm Dreaming of You”, “Night Shift”, “Look No Further”, “You Don't Want Me”, “Stickwitu”
Ashley Gorley – “I had some help”, “Last night”, “You should probably go”, “Play it again”, “You're gonna miss it”
Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins – “Say My Name”, “The Boy Is My”, “You Rock My World”, “Déjà vu”, “Telephone”
Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter – “One Tin Soldier (Theme from “Billy Jack”),” “Don't Pull Your Love,” “Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got),” “It Take Only a Minute,” “Country Boy (You Got Your Feet In LA)”
Tony Macaulay – “Baby Now That I Found You,” “Build Me Buttercup,” “Don't Leave Us,” “(Last Night) I Didn't Get Any Sleep,” “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)”
Roger Nichols – “We've Just Started”, “Rainy Days and Mondays”, “I Can't Last a Day Without You”, “Out in the Country”, “Your Life's Values”
Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham – “I'm Your Puppet”, “Crying Like a Baby”, “A Woman Left Alone”, “Out of Left Field”, “Tears Me Up”
Narada Michael Walden – “How Will I Know,” “Freeway of Love,” “You're My Friend,” “Baby Come to Me,” “Who's Zoomin' Who?”
Songwriter performers
Brian Adams – “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” “Heaven,” “All for Love,” “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?”, “Summer of '69”
George Alan O'Dowd p/k/a Boy George – 'Karma Chameleon', 'You Really Want to Hurt Me', 'Time (Clock Of The Heart), 'Love Is Love', 'Miss Me Blind'
George Clinton – “Atomic Dog”, “Flash Light”, “(Not Only) Knee Deep”, “I'd Rather to Be You”, “Give Up The Funk (Tear the Roof from the Sucker)”
Sheryl Crow – “All I Want To Do”, “Soak Up The Sunshine”, “If It Makes You Happy”, “A Change Would Do You Good”, “Every Day Is A Winding Road”
Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons p/k/a Doobie Brothers – 'Listen to the Music', 'Takin' It to the Streets', 'Black Water', 'What a Fool Believes', 'Long Train Runnin''
Marshall Mathers p/k/a Eminem – “Lose Yourself”, “Stan”, “Mockingbird”, “Houdini”, “Rap God”
David Gates – “Everything I Own”, “Make It With You”, “Baby I Want You”, “The Guitar Player”, “If”
Janet Jackson – “Black Cat”, “Together Again”, “Again”, “Got 'til It's Gone”, “Rhythm Nation”
Tommy James – 'Mony Mony', 'Crimson and Clover', 'Crystal Blue Persuasion', 'Sweet Cherry Wine', 'Tighter, Tighter'
Mike Love – “California Girls”, “Good Vibrations”, “The Warmth of the Sun”, “I Get Around”, “Fun, Fun, Fun”
Alanis Morissette – “You Should Know”, “Ironic”, “Hand in My Pocket”, “Thank You”, “Uninvited”
Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella p/k/a NWA – “Express Yourself”, “Dopeman”, “Fu*k Tha Police”, “Gangsta Gangsta”, “Straight Outta Compton”
Steve Winwood – “Higher Love”, “Gimme Some Love”, “I'm a Man”, “Valerie”, “Roll With It”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/2025-songwriters-hall-of-fame-nominees-full-list-eminem-janet-jackson-nwa-1235824078/
