André 3000 and Sara Bareilles to Receive Honorary Doctorates at Berklee College of Music 2025 Commencement

Berklee College of Music will present honorary Doctor of Music degrees to global superstars and Grammy Award–winning artists André 3000 and Sara Bareilles at its 2025 commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 10, at 10:00 a.m. at Boston University’s Agganis Arena. 

Commencement festivities will begin on the evening of Friday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. with a reception and concert at Agganis Arena. The concert will feature a global cast of over 200 student vocalists, instrumentalists, dancers, arrangers, and track producers from the graduating class, who will perform a musical tribute to the work of each of the honorees. 

This year’s honorary doctorate recipients will be celebrated and recognized for their invaluable contributions to the worlds of music and philanthropy. Past recipients from the college include Duke Ellington (the first, in 1971), Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones ’51, Celine Dion, B.B. King, Joni Mitchell, Chaka Khan, esperanza spalding BM ’05, Usher, Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, Ringo Starr, Tito Puente, Gloria Estefan, Roberta Flack, Juan Luis Guerra ’82, Rita Moreno, Ledisi, Q-Tip, Gilberto Santa Rosa, and John Legend. 

André 3000 

André Benjamin—best known as André 3000—is one of the most revered, celebrated artists of the last three decades, an auteur whose work in music, film, fine arts, fashion, and more continues to influence the cultural landscape on a global scale. His work as one half of the iconic hip-hop duo Outkast, with Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, established a brand new voice and style within rap that had never been experienced before.

In 2023, the nine-time Grammy Award–winning artist released his first solo album in 20 years, New Blue Sun, a wind-focused instrumental album that represents the next step in Benjamin’s creative evolution. Released to widespread critical acclaim, New Blue Sun became the first instrumental album to land on the Billboard 200 Chart, and the opening track, "I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a 'Rap' Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time," broke the record for longest song to debut on the Billboard Hot 100. New Blue Sun was nominated for three Grammy Awards in 2025, including Album of the Year. Benjamin was recently announced as a 2025 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Sara Bareilles

Sara Bareilles is an award-winning singer, songwriter, actor, producer, activist, and New York Times bestselling author whose accolades to date include two Grammy Awards, three Tony Award nominations, and three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. As a recording artist and songwriter, she has sold more than three million albums and 15 million singles in the United States, and her songs have been streamed more than 3.5 billion times worldwide. 

On Broadway, Bareilles composed music and lyrics for Waitress, stepping into the lead role both on Broadway and in the West End. Her other musical theater credits include her Tony-nominated performance as the Baker’s Wife in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods, a song on the Tony-nominated score for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, and an Emmy-nominated appearance as Mary Magdalene in NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live. She played Dawn Solano on the Emmy-nominated musical comedy series Girls5eva, the third season of which is streaming now on Netflix. Bareilles is currently at work on a musical theater adaptation of Meg Wolitzer’s bestselling novel The Interestings, alongside author Sarah Ruhl.