Carol Kaye, one of the most prolific bassists in modern music history, has made headlines by publicly declining her 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. The 90-year-old studio legend was set to receive the Musical Excellence Award alongside Thom Bell and Nicky Hopkins at the ceremony on November 8 in Los Angeles. But in a candid Facebook post, Kaye announced she’s turning it down.
“NO I won’t be there,” she wrote. “I am declining the rrhof awards show… because it wasn’t something that reflects the work that Studio Musicians do and did in the golden era of the 1960s Recording Hits.”
Kaye was part of the Wrecking Crew, the loose collective of session players behind iconic recordings by the Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Sam Cooke, and more. But she rejected the term “Wrecking Crew” altogether, calling it “insulting” and inaccurate. She emphasized that studio musicians were never solo stars but rather part of a highly skilled and deeply collaborative team.
In her post, Kaye also revisited her accidental journey to becoming a bassist—from starting as a jazz guitarist to unexpectedly picking up the Fender Precision Bass in 1963 when another player failed to show. Her improvised bass lines would go on to shape the sound of an entire era.
Declining the Rock Hall honor, she argued the award process failed to represent the reality of her career and the collective legacy of her peers: “I refuse to be part of a process that is something else rather than what I believe in.”
While the Hall has yet to respond, Kaye joins a rare group of artists—including the Sex Pistols and Dolly Parton—who’ve turned down induction. In doing so, she reaffirms the importance of truth, teamwork, and unsung artistry in music history.