(WJW) – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2025 inductee Carol Kaye, whom the foundation describes as a “pioneering bassist who shaped the sound of modern music,” reportedly won’t be attending the November awards ceremony, where she’s scheduled to be honored with the Musical Excellence Award.
“People have been asking: No I won’t be there,” she wrote in a now-unavailable Facebook message she posted Wednesday, according to outlets including Rolling Stone and Variety.
Kaye was a prolific session bassist in the 1960s and 1970s, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings, according to her Rock Hall induction page. She played on everything from Motown recordings to the “Mission: Impossible” theme, and appears on tracks including the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” Richie Valens’ “La Bamba,” and the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” among others.
Kaye is also frequently referred to as part of “The Wrecking Crew,” a nickname for a group of studio musicians called in to record on tracks for major acts, including Phil Spector, The Monkees and others, reported Rolling Stone. But that moniker appears to be a point of contention with Kaye.
“You were always part of a team, not a solo artist at all,” she wrote in the post. “There were always 350 to 400 studio musicians (AFM Local 47 Hollywood) working in the busy 1960s. … I was never a ‘wrecker’ at all. That’s a terribly insulting name.”
Kaye is slated to receive the Musical Excellence Award, which is given to “artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence have had a dramatic impact on music,” according to the Rock Hall website. But in her post, she wrote that the award doesn’t reflect the work unionized studio musicians did recording in the “golden era” of 1960s hits.
“I refuse to be part of a process that is something else rather than what I believe in, for others’ benefit and not reflecting on the truth,” Kaye continued. “We all enjoyed working with each other. Thank you for your understanding.”
The post in question has since been deleted or made private.
A spokesperson for the Rock Hall declined to comment on Kaye’s remarks to Nexstar’s WJW and did not say whether the Hall had discussed her declination with her.
This year’s induction ceremony is set for Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It will once again stream live on Disney+ and be aired at a later date on ABC.
The 2025 inductees, announced in April, also include Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden, The White Stripes, Salt-N-Pepa, Warren Zevon, Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins and Lenny Waronker.