Entertainment

Expect an open-to-the-public concert this spring, and a new legacy exhibit at the Boch Center Wang Theatre. 

By Lauren Daley

November 12, 2025 | 10:00 AM

3 minutes to read

Happy birthday, Neil Young. How’s this for an 80th birthday present?

An induction into Boston’s Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame alongside Jackson Browne, Judy Collins, late greats Leonard Cohen and Aretha Franklin, and more.

On Nov. 12 (Young’s birthday), Boston’s Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame announced their 2025 Class of Inductees. All will be honored March 24, 2026, at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre in a ceremony open to the public. Tickets will go on sale at a later date.

Boston, meet the class of ’25. 

The five Living Artists — a contemporary performer whose initial impact on the genre was at least 25 years before the year of induction, per FARHOF — are Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Judy Collins, Tom Paxton, and New England’s Tom Rush. 

The five Legacy Artists — a performer whose initial impact on the genre was at least 45 years prior to the year of induction — are Leonard Cohen, Aretha Franklin, Mississippi John Hurt, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Muddy Waters.

Two industry non-performers — those whose creative or technical contributions shaped the sound and legacy of American music, per FARHOF — are the late Bob Dylan discoverer John Hammond and the late ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax.

“These inductees represent the heart and soul of Folk, Americana, and Roots music,” stated J. Casey Soward, President & CEO of the Boch Center, home of the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame, in a press release.

“They gave voice to ordinary people and helped shape the soundtrack of this country; its struggles, its hopes, and its beauty. Through this induction … we’re honoring the songs, stories, and spirit that continue to move and unite us.”

This second class is a stand-out crop by any measure. They join the inaugural inductees that included Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, Mavis Staples, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Taj Mahal, The Band, The Byrds, Betsy Siggins, George Wein, and others. 

Of the five “living artists” in this new class, Collins, Paxton, and Rush have confirmed they will attend the induction, according to a FARHOF rep. 

Come down Boston, Neil and Jackson. This could be one helluva show. Last year’s ceremony is available to stream on PBS.org. 

“I’m hoping that Neil and Jackson Browne show up. I haven’t seen them in way too long,” Rush, 84, texted me this week.

The Portsmouth N.H. native and Kittery, Maine resident is widely credited with introducing fellow FARHOF Hall of Fame members Browne and Mitchell to the public.

The Harvard alum cut his teeth on the Cambridge folk scene. In 1960, he hosted a folk show on the campus radio station. He’d go to Boston-area hootenannies looking for talent, and, he told me previously, quickly discovered you could get in for free if you brought a guitar case. “So I’d put a six-pack in a guitar case and walk in the door.”

“The Hall of Fame is a great honor,” Rush said, adding with his signature humor: “I’ve been getting Lifetime Achievement Awards these days. Not sure what’s going on — I’m not done yet!”

(In recent months, he was awarded the Lotte Jacobi Living Treasure Award at the New Hampshire Governor’s Arts Awards, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the folk fest Woodstock, Illinois.)

Meanwhile, a new permanent legacy exhibit at the Boch Center Wang Theatre will honor nominees, featuring “iconic items from each of the inductees,” per a FARHOF release. Items include handwritten lyrics, and the guitar Stephen Stills used to compose “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” for his ex, Judy Collins.

“He and I were breaking up at the end of ’68. He came to see me to give me flowers and a birthday present on May 1 of 1969; he gave me a beautiful Martin guitar,” Collins told me previously.  

“The he played ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.’ We both were weeping and I said, ‘Well, it’s a gorgeous song, but it’s not going to get me back.’”

Collins is also credited with introducing Hall-of-Fame classmate Leonard Cohen to the public.

The late Cohen “came to see me in 1966. I knew about him from a friend who talked about a poet from Canada she went to school with. He came to my apartment on 79th Street; he knocked on the door, and I opened it and thought: “Well, I don’t care if he can’t write songs!”

Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.

Lauren Daley

Lauren Daley is a longtime culture journalist. As a regular contributor to Boston.com, she interviews A-list musicians, actors, authors and other major artists.

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