Bassist Carol Kaye tells AP she's
declining Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, 'Permanently'
[June 21, 2025]
By ANDREW DALTON and HILLEL ITALIE
NEW YORK
(AP) — Carol Kaye, a prolific and revered bassist who played on
thousands of songs in the 1960s including hits by the Beach Boys, Simon
& Garfunkel and Barbra Streisand, told The Associated Press on Friday
that she wants no part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. |

Signage marks the exterior of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Aug. 30,
2017, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File) |
“I’ve declined the rrhof. Permanently," the 90-year-old Kaye
said in an email to the AP. She said she has sent a letter to
the Hall saying the same thing.
Her remarks come two days after a Facebook post — since deleted
— in which she said “NO I won't be there. I am declining the
RRHOF awards show.”
Kaye was set to be inducted in November in a class that also
includes Joe Cocker, Chubby Checker and Cyndi Lauper.
She said in her deleted post that she was “turning it down
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's credits include the bass lines on Simon & Garfunkel’s
“Homeward Bound,” the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” and the
Monkees’ “I’m a Believer."
Along with drummer Hal Blaine and guitarist Tommy Tedesco, she
was part of a core of heavily used studio musicians that Blaine
later dubbed “The Wrecking Crew.”
Kaye hated the name, and suggested in her Facebook post that her
association with it was part of the reason for declining
induction.
“I was never a ‘wrecker’ at all,” she wrote, "that’s a terrible
insulting name.”
Kaye's inductee page on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame website
makes no mention of the moniker.
Hall representatives had no immediate comment.
Many artists have been inducted in their absence or after their
death, and in 2006 the Sex Pistols became Hall of Famers despite
rejecting their induction.
In 2022, Dolly Parton initially declined her induction, saying
someone more associated with rock ‘n’ roll should get the honor.
But she was convinced to change her mind and embrace the honor.
___
Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
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