Immerse Yourself in a World of Music Legends at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is one of the most important organizations within music, honoring both music legends and those who have made a meaningful contribution to the industry. From Al Green to Green Day, Janet Jackson to Jackson Browne and Radiohead to the Talking Heads, the list of inductees is as powerful as it is prestigious.

Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley were among the initial inductees in 1986, just three years after the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was formed. At this point in time, the Hall of Fame still didn’t have a physical home. That changed in 1995 when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum (often referred to as Rock Hall) opened its doors in Cleveland, Ohio.

The museum is among the building tours scheduled for the 2025 International Code Council Annual Conference, Expo and Committee Action Hearings (Oct. 19-30). Open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (and until 9:00 p.m. on Thursdays), there will be plenty of opportunities for conference attendees to experience the history of rock and roll, including the “Welcome to Cleveland” event hosted at the Rock Hall on Sunday, Oct. 19.

“It all starts with our curatorial team and our collections team. They do an incredible job of thinking strategically about the total story of rock and roll that we are telling,” said John Goehrke, Director of Fan Engagement and Guest Experience at the Rock Hall. “We have seven floors here – it’s a giant museum!”

Soon, the museum will be even larger. Rock Hall is currently working on its first-ever expansion with a new building that will double its exhibit size and introduce a new educational classroom for students, teachers and researchers. While education has always been a part of Rock Hall, Goehrke said there will now be a dedicated space for school group visits when the expansion is complete in 2026.

The new building will also add an indoor concert venue to the museum, allowing musicians to perform well beyond the summer months.

30 Years of Fame and History

Rock Hall’s exhibits aren’t limited to performer inductees – there is space for both emerging and influential artists at all levels.

“We have [had] a nominating committee since the first induction ceremony back in 1986,” Goehrke explained. “Our committee ranges in size but is pretty small, about 40-45 people or so [and include] industry executives, experts, scholars and artists – people who are really clued in and tuned in to the history of rock and roll and all of its facets.”

Committee members meet annually to discuss which eligible artists should be nominated and, over the course of their meeting, whittle the list down to roughly 15 artists. From there, the final list of nominations will be submitted to all voting members, which include inductees like Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Diana Ross and Missy Elliott. Journalists and musical scholars are among the voting body as well.

This year’s performer inductees include Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden and The White Stripes. Some artists, such as Missy Elliott, were nominated and inducted the first year they became eligible. Others, like Chubby Checker, were not honored until many years later despite their notable contributions to rock and roll.

With so many artists to consider each year, it is impossible to induct every artist imaginable the moment they become eligible.

“Chubby was making music in the 1950s,” said Goehrke. “The Twist hit number one in 1960 [and] returned to number one in 1962, one of the rare songs that hits number one in two different years! He has been eligible since our first induction in 1986 and it just so happens this was his first nomination in 2025.”

Peruse Artifacts and Become a Rockstar

Current exhibits include Bon Jovi Forever, a full-floor exhibit that covers the band’s four decades of musical excellence. Band members contributed multiple artifacts to the exhibit, including those that have not been previously displayed at any museum.

The Legends of Rock exhibit allows visitors to see what their favorite bands wore and the instruments they used during some of their most iconic performances. Handwritten drafts of hit singles are among the artifacts found within this exhibit, which now spans three floors.

“My favorite experience is called The Garage,” said Goehrke. “[It fills] the entire second floor of the museum. This is the place where we always say it’s the visitor’s turn to play. Pick up an instrument, whether it’s drums, piano, guitar or bass, learn a song and jam along with our house band. We have a staff house band that’s there every day to perform with our visitors, and magic happens in that space every single day. It’s a really interactive, hands-on experience at Rock Hall.”

The Code Council’s 2025 Annual Conference, Expo and Committee Action Hearings kick off on Oct. 19 and run through Oct. 30. Learn more by heading over to our conference page and don’t forget to check out all of the exciting building tours scheduled for the event!