Debut albums by Jay-Z, Luther Vandross and Big Star and breakthrough singles by Miami Sound Machine and Eddie Floyd are among the 13 recordings that were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame this year.
This year’s additions (eight albums and five singles) meet the main requirements – they exhibit “qualitative or historical significance” and are at least 25 years old. The inducted recordings will be honored at the Grammy Museum and Recording Academy’s second annual Grammy Hall of Fame Gala on May 16 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (the site of the first Grammy Awards dinner in 1959). The Gala will also pay tribute to this year’s label honoree, Republic Records. Performers are to be announced.
Last year’s inaugural Grammy Hall of Fame gala was held at the Novo Theatre at L.A. Live. Atlantic Records was the label honoree. Ken Ehrlich, who guided the Grammy telecast for 40 years, produced the show. CBS broadcast journalist Anthony Mason hosted.
“It’s a privilege to recognize these eclectic recordings as the 2025 Grammy Hall of Fame inductees,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, says in a statement. “We’re excited to celebrate these impactful works, ensuring their legacies continue to inspire generations to come.”
“The Grammy Hall of Fame serves as a vital bridge between music’s past and present, honoring recordings that have left a lasting mark on our cultural landscape,” adds Michael Sticka, president/CEO of the Grammy Museum. “We’re proud to preserve and share these influential works.”
Eligible artist(s), producer(s), engineer(s), and mixer(s) of these 13 recordings will receive a certificate from the Recording Academy.
The Grammy Hall of Fame was established by the Recording Academy’s national trustees in 1973. Inducted recordings are selected annually by a member committee drawn from all branches of the recording arts with final ratification by the academy’s national board of trustees. Counting these 13 new titles, the Grammy Hall of Fame totals 1,165 inducted recordings. The full list of past inducted recordings can be found here.
Here’s the full list of 2025 inductees into the Grammy Hall of Fame, listed alphabetically by artist.
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Big Star, #1 Record
Release date: April 24, 1972
Original label: Ardent
Billboard 200 peak: Did not chart
Producer: John Fry
Singles: “Thirteen,” “When My Baby’s Beside Me,” “Don’t Lie to Me”
Notes: Big Star was formed in Memphis in 1971 by Alex Chilton (vocals, guitar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). Chilton had previously fronted The Box Tops, whose Hot 100-topping 1967 smash “The Letter” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011.#1 Record was Big Star’s critically lauded debut studio album. The album sold fewer than 10,000 copies upon its initial release, but is now widely regarded as a power pop classic. Chilton died in 2010 at age 59.
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J.D. Crowe & The New South, J.D. Crowe & The New South
Release year: 1975
Original label: Rounder
Billboard 200 peak: Did not chart
Producer: J.D. Crowe
Notes: Following J.D. Crowe & the Kentucky Mountain Boys’ 1973 album Bluegrass Evolution, Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas joined the reconfigured group for this eponymously titled album. The album featured traditional bluegrass instrumentation on songs by rising singer-songwriters, such as Gordon Lightfoot and Rodney Crowell, as well as on traditional songs. Crowe died from pneumonia in 2021 at age 84.
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Eddie Floyd, “Knock on Wood”
Release date: July 25, 1966
Original label: Stax
Hot 100 peak: No. 28
Producer: Jim Stewart
Notes: Floyd and Steve Cropper co-wrote “Knock on Wood,” which became the singer’s first Hot 100 single and the title track of his debut album. The song was recorded by Stax’s house band Booker T. & the M.G.’s, augmented by Isaac Hayes on piano and Wayne Jackson on trumpet. Otis Redding & Carla Thomas hit the top 30 on the Hot 100 in 1967 with a cover version, while Amii Stewart released a disco version in 1979 that went all the way to No. 1.
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Emmylou Harris, Wrecking Ball
Image Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images Release date: Sept. 26, 1995
Original label: Asylum
Billboard 200 peak: No. 94
Producer: Daniel Lanois
Singles: “Where Will I Be,” “Wrecking Ball,” “Goodbye”
Notes: This is Harris’ second album to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, following Trio, her 1987 collaboration with Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton. Wrecking Ball, Harris’ 18th studio album, won a Grammy for best contemporary folk album. The album featured guest performances by Steve Earle, Larry Mullen Jr., Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Lucinda Williams and Neil Young, who wrote (and previously recorded) the title song and sang harmony vocals on Harris’ rendition. Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
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Jay-Z, Reasonable Doubt
Release date: June 25, 1996
Original label: Roc-A-Fella, distributed by Priority Records
Billboard 200 peak: No. 23
Executive producers: Jay-Z, Damon Dash, Kareem “Biggs” Burke
Singles: “Ain’t No N—a,” “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” “Feelin’ It”
Notes: This was Jay-Z’s widely acclaimed debut studio album. The LP features guest appearances by Memphis Bleek, Mary J. Blige and the Notorious B.I.G., among others. In 2017, Jay became the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. Jay has gone on to win 25 Grammys (including one this year for his work on wife Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter), more than any other rapper.
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Fela Kuti & Afrika 70, Zombie
Year of release: 1976
Original label: Coconut (Nigeria); Creole Records (U.K.)
Billboard 200 peak: Did not chart
Producer: Fela Kuti
Notes: Zombie is a studio album by Nigerian Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti, released in Nigeria by Coconut Records in 1976, and in the U.K. by Creole Records the following year. On the album, Kuti’s 25th, he criticized the Nigerian government. Kuti died in 1997 at age 58. The Grammys added a best African music performance category last year. The first two winners have been Tyla’s “Water” and Tems’ “Love Me JeJe.”
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Linda Martell, “Color Him Father”
Release month: July 1969
Original label: Plantation
Hot Country Songs peak: No. 22
Producer: Shelby Singleton
Notes: “Color Him Father” was a cover version of a pop and R&B hit by The Winstons, which made the top 10 on the Hot 100 and won a Grammy for best R&B song. Singleton brought Martell the song and urged her to put her own stamp on it. The song was later included on Martell’s 1970 studio album, Color Me Country. Martell was the first Black woman to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. She received a Grammy nod for best melodic rap performance this year for her featured role on Beyoncé’s “SPAGHETTII” and a respectful shoutout from Queen Bey on the Grammy stage.
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Miami Sound Machine, “Conga”
Image Credit: Terry Lott/Sony Music Archive via Getty Images Release date: Sept. 9, 1985
Original label: Epic
Hot 100 peak: No. 10
Producer: Rafael Vigil, Emilio Estefan Jr.
Notes: This festive recording was Miami Sound Machine’s first Hot 100 hit. “Conga,” which was written by Miami Sound Machine drummer Enrique Garcia,was the first single from the group’s second English-language album, Primitive Love. Gloria Estefan assumed star billing in 1987 with the similarly infectious “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You.” She and Emilio received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2019. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame four years later. She won her fourth Grammy on Feb. 2 for best global music performance as a featured artist on Sheila E.’s “Bemba Colorá.”
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Santana, Supernatural
Release date: June 15, 1999
Original label: Arista
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (12 weeks)
Producer: Carlos Santana, Clive Davis, Jerry ‘Wonder’ Duplessis, The Dust Brothers, Alex González, Charles Goodan, Lauryn Hill, Art Hodge, Wyclef Jean, Fher Olvera, K.C. Porter, Dante Ross, Matt Serletic, Stephen Harris
Singles: “Smooth,” “Put Your Lights On,” “Maria Maria,” “Corazón Espinado,” “Love of My Life,” “Primavera”
Notes: This is Santana’s third album to be voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, following Santana and Abraxas. Supernatural was the band’s 18th studio album. It reunited the band with Clive Davis, who had signed the group to Columbia Records in 1969. In 1998, a year before Supernatural’s release, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Supernatural features numerous contemporary guest artists, including Rob Thomas, Eric Clapton, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, Maná, and CeeLo Green. At the 2000 Grammys, the band won eight awards, matching Michael Jackson’s 1984 record for most Grammys won in one night.
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Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman
Release date: Nov. 23, 1970
Original label: A&M (U.S./Canada); Island (U.K./Europe)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 8
Producer: Paul Samwell-Smith
Singles: “Father and Son,” “Wild World”
Notes: Tea for the Tillerman was Stevens’ fourth studio album. The album includes many of his best-known songs, including “Where Do the Children Play?,” “Hard Headed Woman,” “Wild World,” “Sad Lisa,” “Into White” and “Father and Son.” Stevens, a former art student, created the artwork featured on the record’s cover. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019.
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Luther Vandross, Never Too Much
Image Credit: David Corio/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Release date: Aug. 12, 1981
Original label: Epic
Billboard 200 peak: No. 19
Producer: Luther Vandross
Singles: “Never Too Much,” “Don’t You Know That?”
Notes: Never Too Much was Vandross’ debut solo studio album. It brought the R&B star two Grammy nominations in 1982 — best new artist and best R&B vocal performance, male. The title track topped Hot Soul Singles (as the chart was then called) for two weeks. Vandross wrote all of the songs on the album except for the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic “A House Is Not a Home.” His more than seven-minute-long version of that song, first recorded by Dionne Warwick, became one of his signature hits. Vandross died in 2005 at age 54.
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Clara Ward, “How I Got Over”
Year of release: 1951
Notes: Ward composed and published this gospel hymn in 1951. Mahalia Jackson sang the song at the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. A Jackson recording of the song won a Grammy for best soul gospel performance in 1977, five years after her death. Aretha Franklin recorded the song for her classic 1972 live album Amazing Grace, with James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir. That album won a Grammy for best soul gospel performance in 1973. Ward died in 1973 at age 48.
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Geeshie Wiley, “Last Kind Words Blues”
Year of release: 1930
Original label: Paramount Records
Notes: Wiley was born Lillie Mae Boone in 1908. The blues singer/guitarist wrote and performed this song, also known as “Last Kind Words,” with Elvie Thomas providing additional guitar accompaniment. The song’s haunting lyrics and atmosphere have made this a blues classic. Wiley died in 1950 at age 41.
