The 2023 and 2024 ballots were the last ones that actually tried to make sure everyone on the ballot was competitive, credible, or inductable. What happened since then? It may have been less obvious in 2025, but especially in 2026, it is almost obvious that some committee members are just voting for filler acts to push their own projects, and the ballot quality has declined a lot compared to 2023/2024. I wouldn't be surprised if Jimmy Jams voted for Phish/Maná/Jeff Buckley to get them onto the ballot, despite possibly never having listened to even one song of theirs, just to push their own Mariah Careys/New Editions.
John Sykes needs to put a stop to this behavior. They need to have 14-17 good names every year, all of them should be in top 30-50 most important/credible/votable names.
There have been some discussions about Rock Hall committee members strategically voting for less competitive acts to get them onto the ballot, in order to boost the chances of important acts that have been rejected before, as well as their own favored candidates. I do think this theory is reasonable.
So here are some acts look like good "filler" that could appear on a 2027 ballot.
Phish (a bit more important than most names listed below, but they are nowhere to be competitive at least in recent 5 years, simply most voters not exactly Phish fans don't care about them at all and won't ever consider voting for them.)
The Black Crowes
Counting Crow
Hootie & The Blowfish
Matchbox 20
Train
John Mayer
Melissa Etheridge
The Black Keys
Avril Lavigne
Kelly Clarkson
P!nk
Sia
Yeah, INXS not returning would rank only second to the nominating committee ignoring Beyonce and/or Kanye West (potentially because they don't understand that one or both are eligible) as far as 2027 surprises go.
I have absolutely no doubt that INXS was the next closest to being elected.
The ones that didn't get in where either marginal in credentials (Black Crowes, Melissa Etheridge), indie (Jeff Buckley) , too left-field from guitar rock (New Edition, Shakira) or Mariah.
I think INXS are almost guaranteed to return, it is not like that female rock line (Cyndi Lauper, Cher, Pat Benatar, Eurythmics) that was crowded, with multiple acts that could rotate with each other, also the competition from boomer favorites was heavier at that time. But are there any equally or more obvious choices than INXS in that 80s mainstream mtv rock line? The only comparable act seems to be Tears for Fears? Others like Pet Shop Boys, The Bangles, Huey Lewis and The News all seem like "lesser picks" compared to INXS? Also this was probably part of the reason Billy Idol was brought up two consecutive years, because he seemed to be the committee's clear lone priority for that MTV rock star line, with no other act in that category being an equally obvious choice in the committee's view (Bryan Adams, Sting of course being lower priorities for the committee...). The same logic could apply to INXS, since there aren't many equally strong alternatives in their lane for the committee to prioritize instead. Also given the rumor that INXS finished #9, then there is almost no reason not to bring them back.
Casper wrote: