If you were going to create a first ballot Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee in a lab, an artist with critically acclaimed albums, worldwide popularity, huge hit songs, and an all-time live performer, it would look exactly like Coldplay. Despite being eligible now for four years, they still haven't been nominated. What's going on here?

Let's rewind for a moment back to before the ballot was released in 2023. At that point, artists were eligible 26 years after their first recording (25 years from the nomination date, but the induction year was traditionally in the following calendar year — yes, it was confusing). Coldplay released their first EP in 1998, so they had been expected to be eligible in 2024. When the 2023 ballot was released, it was revealed that the Rock Hall decided to formally shift its calendar forward a year so eligibility could be calculated with a clean 25 years to date of the ceremony. This suddenly made artists who released their first recordings in 1997 and 1998 both first year eligible. For example, Missy Elliott's first release was 1997 and The White Stripes had theirs in 1998. Both became nominees in their first eligible year. Coldplay, who was now suddenly eligible, did not get nominated.

At the time, it may have been easy to attribute Coldplay's snub to the Rock Hall's unexpected rule change, but in any case, they would no longer get the distinction of being "first ballot Hall of Famers" like many of their peers.

Fast forward to 2024 and nearly everyone who pays attention to the Hall of Fame was predicting Coldplay to be nominated. When the ballot was officially revealed, Coldplay wasn't on it, but someone left a clue:

On this episode, it's discussed that Questlove's IG story announcing the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees originally included Coldplay until he took it down 24 hours later 👀 #RockHall2024 https://t.co/USDiIMxmYx

— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklgnds) February 16, 2024

Questlove, one of the most well known members of the Nominating Committee, had created his own Instagram story revealing the 2024 ballot. The video included the 15 official nominees plus Coldplay. Apparently sometime between the Nominating Committee meeting and the official reveal, Coldplay had been removed from the ballot and word had not gotten back to Questlove.

The prevailing theory at the time was that since Coldplay was still in the middle of their multiyear Music of the Spheres world tour, they asked to be removed from consideration, and the Rock Hall complied.

Okay, but how about 2025? Again, no nomination, despite having a clear calendar in the Fall around the time of the induction ceremony. Maybe the tour conflict isn't the reason.

And now here we are again in 2026 with another group of nominees and Coldplay is still mysteriously absent, even with zero scheduled tour dates.

Does the Rock Hall hate Coldplay? Does Coldplay hate the Rock Hall?

The only plausible explanation for the lack of a nomination comes from the 2026 ballot reveal episode of the Who Cares About the Rock Hall podcast, where host Joe Kwaczala relays a rumor he's heard about their candidacy:

Kristen Studard: [The fact] that Coldplay has not been on a ballot is crazy to me because they are such a Rock Hall type band.

Joe Kwaczala: I've told you my theory of that. They have announced that they are working on their final album, and that they are powerful enough to [tell the Rock Hall], "we would like to include an induction as part of our farewell campaign."

Perhaps that once the possibility of being a first ballot Hall of Famer like the all-time greats passed them by, Coldplay decided to take their time with it all. In any case, the Rock Hall will be there waiting with open arms whenever Coldplay decides they want to be inducted.

Should artists be able to dictate the terms of their own induction to the Hall of Fame? With other big names becoming eligible soon, it's a risky precedent to set.

• Nominating Committee Term Limits: In a Facebook thread about the nominees, Alan Light revealed that after 19 years, he was removed from the Nominating Committee because term limits have been introduced. To Light's credit, he supports the change, after having previously lauded the value of having new voices at the table. Adding term limits was one of our 10 suggestions for fixing the Rock Hall from 2019. It's unknown at this point exactly how many members of the Nominating Committee turned over from last year, but it is likely in the 7-10 range.

• Voting Rule Changes: After the switch to sending out electronic ballots via email last year, the Rock Hall made another significant change to the process. They now require their official voters to vote for exactly seven names. Up until this year, the Rock Hall had no minimum number you had to vote for. Most would vote for the maximum, but many voters decided to only support the names that truly met their threshold of being a Hall of Famer. Since 2024, when the Rock Hall increased the maximum votes from five to seven, over 25% of public ballots were returned with less than seven names checked.

• Explicit Voting Criteria: Official voters now receive the following screen before reviewing the ballot. The Rock Hall has been criticized lately for valuing commercial success and industry connections over artistic merit. Their reminder to voters to consider "Excellence, Innovation, Influence, and Impact" is a return of to their roots when they used to state that popularity, "gold records, number one hits, and million sellers are really not appropriate standards for evaluation."

• Fan Vote Changes: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's popular Fan Vote is back this year, but the overall duration of the voting has been cut from 87 days in 2023, to 69 days in 2025, to now just 38 days in 2026 (it closes this year on April 3rd). We have tracked this poll daily since 2013, and it consistently reveals the ultimate winners after about 2 weeks of voting. Needlessly extending it longer just takes advantage of fans' time who are eager to support their favorite artists no matter what. This is a great change.
• Fan Vote Becomes Even More Meaningless: What's odd about the shorter fan vote duration is that the Voting Committee's 1200 e-ballots are due on March 25th, a full nine days before the Fan Vote closes, which counts as the single remaining ballot. With electronic balloting, the Rock Hall will quickly know who is getting in and will begin making arrangements based on that induction class well before April 3rd. The only way that final ballot will have any impact at all is if there is a tie for the 7th spot, and in previous years the Rock Hall has been known to increase the number of inductees even when the numbers are close. It may still be a point of pride for fans to finish in the top seven, but it ultimately won't make a difference.
• The Ballot Announcement: This was discussed in the John Sykes Report Card where we gave him an "F" on this topic, but the Rock Hall failed to even tease the ballot announcement date in advance on social media. Their fan vote page briefly displayed a "countdown clock" to the announcement in its code which was subsequently removed once it was discovered and never returned. The media embargo quietly lifted at 6am EST on Wednesday but the Rock Hall had given up their exclusivity and control over the announcement.
• Induction Ceremony Location: The mystery of the host city for the 2026 ceremony is still under wraps. Cleveland is expecting it, but John Sykes has other ideas.

The 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees were announced at 6:00am EST on Wednesday, February 25th. Inductees will be revealed in April, and will be honored at a ceremony in the fall.

• The 100 Greatest Artist of All-Time (previously The Immortals)
• The Top 500 Albums of All-Time
• The Top 500 Songs of All-Time

To do so, we received and tabulated Top 50 Albums lists from more than 300 artists, producers, critics, and music-industry figures (from radio programmers to label heads). The electorate includes Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Billie Eilish; rising artists like H.E.R., Tierra Whack, and Lindsey Jordan of Snail Mail; as well as veteran musicians, such as Adam Clayton and the Edge of U2, Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, Gene Simmons, and Stevie Nicks.

In the three years since Rolling Stone rolled out the all-new, fully revamped version of our 500 Greatest Albums list, artists like Beyonce, Bad Bunny, and Taylor Swift have all released undeniable classics. So we’ve updated the list, adding those albums while making a few other tweaks.

• Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All-Time (2020 version)
• Rolling Stone's Top 500 Songs of All-Time (2021 version)

1. D'Angelo
2. Fiona Apple
3. Joy Division/New Order
4. Pavement
5. Big Star
6. Erykah Badu
7. John Coltrane
8. De La Soul
9. Oasis
10. Sade
11. PJ Harvey
12. Bjork
13. Lucinda Williams
14. Sonic Youth
15. Daft Punk
16. Pixies

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame introduced voting kiosks in its museum in 2018 before the 2019 ballot was released. Previously, fans had no formal public method of reaching the Nominating Committee with their opinions about who should be inducted.

The kiosk famously had early success with the top two artists getting inducted in 2019 (Stevie Nicks and Def Leppard), and museum president Greg Harris was quick to attribute the Voice Your Choice kiosk results as having some impact when creating the ballot.

Since then, Rock Hall leaders haven't talked much about it, but their website now says that the top 100 results are provided to the Nominating Committee for their consideration. With that in mind, and with the 2026 ballot right around the corner, it is a good time to look at various snapshots of the results of the years to see how much they correlate with actual ballot appearances and inductions.

Enjoy the new page on our site dedicated the strange little kiosks at the museum, and fingers crossed for fans of any of the artists in the current top 10: Linkin Park, Iron Maiden, P!nk, Alice In Chains, Styx, "Weird Al", Boston, Mötley Crüe, Weezer, and Blink-182. The full top 100 is available here: https://www.futurerocklegends.com/Museum_Fan_Choice/

John Sykes took over as Chairman of the Board of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation on January 1, 2020. (His first start-to-finish induction class was 2021.) It's been five full years, so let's sharpen a pencil and fill out his report card to see how he's performed in various subjects:

• Increasing diversity on the Nominating Committee: In Sykes's tenure, the number of women on the Nominating Committee has steadily increased from 26% when he took over, to an all time high of 45% in 2025. Grade: A-
• Increasing diversity on the Board of Directors: Sykes inherited a Board with two women out of 26 members (8%). The Board now has seven women out of 28 (25%) and a far more racially diverse group. Grade: B
• Live streaming the induction ceremony: In 2023, the Hall of Fame moved the induction ceremony broadcasts from HBO/HBO Max to Disney+ where the ceremonies were able to return to an unedited live streaming format. As part of this deal, ABC broadcasts an edited version of the ceremony annually on New Year's Day, reaching the free TV audience for the first time. Grade: A
• Reducing the backlog by increasing the size of the induction classes: In the five years before Sykes took over the Hall was averaging just 6.8 inductees per induction class. Since 2021, that has doubled to 13.8. There are still a staggering number of deserving artists but it could be so much worse. Grade: A+
• Fixing the voting system: Beginning in 2024, the Rock Hall adjusted their voting rules to allow their official voters (and the fans) to vote for up to seven artists instead of the previous five. This was done to reflect the larger performer classes the Hall of Fame had been inducting. While still not perfect, this was a step in the right direction. Grade: B+
• Aligning the emphasis of the Fan Vote with its actual importance: Every time a popular artist gets nominated, their fans flood the Fan Vote hoping to guarantee their induction but get disappointed when it doesn't happen. The Rock Hall hasn't adjusted the emphasis they place on it nor the weight it is given in the actual tally. Grade: D
• Bringing clarity to the Special Categories: In an attempt to broaden the definition of the Musical Influence category to go beyond the original pre-Rock & Roll-era intent, the Hall inducted Kraftwerk and Gil Scott-Heron in 2021. They succumbed to the temptation of using Musical Excellence and Musical Influence as brute-force mechanisms to clear congested ballot lanes, and in doing so completely muddied the definitions of the categories and rendered them meaningless. Grade: F
• Keeping his promise to Cleveland to bring the induction ceremony there every two years: In 2021, he said that was the plan but it hasn't happened yet. The Museum and Cleveland desperately want it, but Sykes's public comments have shifted to keeping the current three-year rotation. Grade: D
• Increasing or maintaining the prestige of an induction: Under Sykes, the Hall of Fame self-proclaimed the inductions "Rock's Highest Honor," clearly trying to mimic the Grammys' "Music's Biggest Night" tagline. Even during the Jann Wenner era, the honor of being inducted was been questioned by some artists, and that has continued in recent years with notable friction with inductees like Chubby Checker, Carol Kaye, Foreigner, Rage Against the Machine, and Todd Rundgren. Additionally, performers who get inducted in the side categories often publicly question what that is all about. As much as Sykes proclaims that all inductees are equal, the honor of getting in through the ballot process as a performer while being voted on by other inductees (your influences and peers, plus "the fans") is still the preferred avenue for most artists. Grade: C
• Improving communication of the ballot and inductee announcements: From creating no buzz around the ballot announcement, to releasing the nominees on the Saturday before the Super Bowl, by dropping the Sirius-XM partnership, to having American Idol half-ass the inductee announcement, it has been nothing but a series of failures. Grade: F
• Expanding the definition of "rock and roll": Beginning in 2005, Jann Wenner began the push to get hip hop artists included in the Hall of Fame. Twenty years later, that has become a settled fact at this point. In 2022, the Dolly Parton nomination as a performer broke the unspoken separation between the Rock Hall and the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Rock Hall had dabbled with country artists in the past, but usually in the context of inducting them as influences. Willie Nelson went in easily the following year, so it seemed that other country stars could soon follow. That hasn't happened yet and the relationship of the Rock Hall and country music is still a bit up in the air. Sykes did broaden the Rock Hall's focus to nominate a global superstar like Mariah Carey who didn't get any attention from the Hall of Fame for her first 8 years of eligibility. Other popular "icons" like Cher, Carole King, Lionel Richie, and Tina Turner all were able to finally get noticed under Sykes. Grade: B
• Keeping the Rock Hall induction ceremonies unique: There are three different eras of induction ceremonies: The first was the 1986-2011 ceremonies which were the private Waldorf-Astoria black tie affairs (there were a couple of exceptions). The TV cameras were mostly an afterthought and the focus stayed on the inductees. The 2012-2020 HBO era made public ceremonies permanent and increased the production value and star power, but not at the expense of keeping the focus on the inductees. In the John Sykes era since 2021, it often feels like the inductees aren't the primary focus. Tribute performances are booked for artists who would prefer to perform themselves. Inductors are selected for their name or industry status rather than their connection to the honoree. The production values have remained high, but the reliance on "award ceremony regulars" gives the ceremonies a new blandness. The Rock Hall should be special in a way that the Billboard Awards, the American Music Awards, and especially the iHeart Music Awards just aren't. Grade: C

So with all of the above categories being weighted equally, the final grade for John Sykes after his first five induction classes averages out to about a B-. Your own impression of his tenure will hinge on how much value you give to his various accomplishments. While it's not included above, a vital part of his tenure was bringing some steady leadership to the position that wasn't burdened with Jann Wenner's racial and gender biases, and his reputation for blacklists. Everyone can agree it was time to move on from that.

Well, here's how the story of Chubby Checker and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ended:

On the night of being recognized with "Music's Highest Honor," Chubby Checker was not at the induction ceremony accepting the ultimate lifetime achievement award, the type of validation he had been seeking most of his life. No, he was just a short drive up the coast from L.A., supposedly playing a private gig in Santa Barbara. For its part, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame did their best to act like Checker wasn't even one of the seven Performer inductees this year, effectively cutting him out of promotional materials and reducing his induction segment to a bare minimum of 4 1/2 minutes, compared to the typical 25-30 minutes reserved for other Performers. There was no presenter speech and no live tribute performance.

During his brief induction video, there was a single narrator: Chubby Checker. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame left it to Checker alone to explain his impact on the culture and why he deserved this recognition. Unlike most other tribute videos, there were no peers lauding his achievements nor any contemporary artists gushing about how they were influenced by Chubby Checker (there was some brief archival footage of Dick Clark). After 2 1/2 minutes of Checker walking through his history, they showed a video of his acceptance speech from a July concert in Des Plaines, Illinois as he held a trophy that didn't have his name etched on it yet and his face eerily illuminated by rotating stage lighting, alternating between purple, red, and blue.

So how did it come to this? With Chubby not wanting to attend the induction ceremony and the Rock Hall pretending he didn't exist?

Chubby's checkered relationship with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame goes back to the very first induction ceremony in 1986, where he performed The Twist on stage during the "All-Star Jam."

While Checker was technically eligible for induction that first year, he probably wasn't surprised not to be inducted up against the stacked first class, however he likely never thought his wait would extend decades.

It’s fair to say that Chubby Checker has always believed he belongs in the Hall of Fame with the greats. He isn’t shy about talking about his accomplishments and his impact on music. Take for example some of his claims in recent interviews:

• Muhammed Ali learned his brash boastful personality from him
• He invented “throw your hands in the air like you just don’t care” with his song and dance “The Fly”
• “I take credit for disco.”
• “The dancefloor that so many of these artists enjoy and make millions of dollars on – I put it there.”
• “You should check out the history of television, and see what happened before Chubby Checker and after Chubby Checker did his 2:52 singing 'The Twist' on American Bandstand (on Aug. 6, 1960). The world changed. Music changed.”
• “Hip-hop? What does 'The Pony' do? He hips and he hops! That little dance that people do when they’re holding their crotch? That’s “The Pony.” I started that.”
• “Anyone after Chubby Checker who had a song that you could dance to, they were in my world, that I brought to the dance floor. Dancing to the beat is what we brought, and it’s still there — no matter what it is.”

In 2001, after waiting 15 years for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to recognize him, Chubby Checker famously took out his first full page ad in Billboard laying out his credentials and demands.

Checker followed up this letter with another one in 2002.

In 2004, Chubby Checker showed up outside the induction ceremony in New York to complain about the lack of radio airplay for "The Twist." Seymour Stein, co-chairman of the Nominating Committee of the Rock Hall at the time, said, “I think that Chubby is someone who will be considered. He has in certain years.”

The stunt didn't sway the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A decade later in 2014, Checker was asked about why he wasn't inducted yet. Checker responded, "I don't like to say it, but they're racist against the Chub. That's all it is. It ain't nothing else. It's plain and simple. They need to take care of it. Fix it!"

In 2018, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame thought they had a solution for artists like Chubby Checker. They created the "Singles Category" to specifically honor artists who had impactful songs but weren't in the Hall of Fame (and likely didn't have the full set of credentials usually required). Chubby Checker's "The Twist" was one of five songs in the inaugural class. The new category was revealed at the induction ceremony but the Hall of Fame apparently didn't think it was important enough to invite any of the artists who "won," so Checker still never received any in-person validation from the Hall of Fame.

The Singles Category was discontinued after three years and most people thought artists who were honored in that category would never be fully inducted. However, in 2023, the Hall of Fame inducted Link Wray in the Musical Influence category, giving new hope to other Singles Category honorees.

In 2025, when Performer ballot was announced, it was genuinely shocking to see Chubby Checker as one of the names. Why now, after 40 years of eligibility had the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame suddenly changed its mind about the Hall of Fame worthiness of one of the most famous artists of his generation? Why did Nominating Committee member Cliff Burnstein, a 14-year veteran of the process, decide this was the year to put forward Chubby Checker? We may never know the answers to those questions, but former members of the committee that skipped over Chubby all those years have been pretty clear why he was kept off the ballot.

A few years ago, on the "Who Cares About the Rock Hall?" podcast, Seymour Stein had this to say about him:

Seymour Stein: “I don’t believe that Chubby Checker was a great artist. Do you really think he was a great artist?”

Andy Paley: “There are lot of people that aren’t great artists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

Stein: “Why repeat it with Chubby Checker?”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's standards have shifted over the years, notably with the turnover at the top of the organization from Jann Wenner to John Sykes. Artistry and critical acclaim are no longer the primary factors for induction (some perceived this as snobbery). Those have been replaced with popularity and industry connections. So under the current lens, Chubby Checker's nomination fits right in (with an emphasis on popularity and how much weight you put on creating dance fads) in this new populist era.

But why did Chubby Checker choose to skip the ceremony, where he would finally get the flowers he's been wanting for 40 years? Was it bad blood or cold feet? Based on Checker's induction speech from Des Plaines, it seems like was genuinely touched by the honor. His preemptive move to book a gig on the day of induction seems like a move of someone who was afraid they would be hurt once again.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's reaction to Chubby Checker snubbing them, was to act like they regretted ever having caved in the first place.

Now both parties can go their separate ways and never have to think of each other again. They leave in their wake one of the more fascinating and puzzling Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions ever.

On Sunday, in a surprise announcement at a concert in Des Plaines, Illinois, Chubby Checker accepted his trophy, gave a brief speech to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame cameras, then launched into "The Twist." Checker later sat down for an interview where he explained he will be skipping the induction ceremony in November because he prefers to play in front of a "live audience, not a television audience."

After 39 years of being snubbed by the Hall of Fame, Checker decided to turn away from their embrace.

Chubby Checker is skipping the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony (h/t @rockinretropod.bsky.social )

…more to come

[image or embed]

— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklegends.com) July 29, 2025 at 12:17 AM

Here’s more of Chubby Checker’s explanation for skipping the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony

[image or embed]

— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklegends.com) July 29, 2025 at 9:07 AM

Checker's announcement comes after he was finally nominated for the first time and inducted in his 40th year of eligibility, after spending years publicly talking about his absence. His explanation is a bit convoluted, but it sounds like after he was nominated in February, he asked his manager to book him a gig specifically on the night of the induction ceremony. Checker said, "Let's be doing a show, like I am doing today, to show that I'm alive and well… And my dream is still being fulfilled, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is happening all at the same time."

There isn't any precedent for an inductee publicly receiving their trophy away from the induction ceremony, particularly three months prior to the event. Rock Hall production cameras were on hand to record Chubby's speech from the stage after he accepted his trophy.

What a surprise! If I'm holding this, it means that Chubby Checker has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. How about that?

I thank all of my peers who have elected me, and all of my wonderful fans of all this time, I appreciate you so much. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I thank you for making me a member of the family. When I go through Cleveland in the car, I'll think totally different than before, because a light has gone on in my life. When I'll go through Cleveland, I'll just be illuminated by all the good things that have happened to me in my lifetime. I am so thankful, I appreciate it, and I can't say how wonderful it is that this has happened to me and I'm alive to enjoy it!

And it all began with this…. "C'mon baby!, Let's do the Twist!"

Checker joins Carol Kaye in deciding to skip the L.A. ceremony. Additionally, Bad Company's Mick Ralphs passed away in June leaving Simon Kirke and Paul Rodgers as the last living members who are being inducted. Sadly, this year's class has seven inductees (Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins, Warren Zevon, Joe Cocker, Mick Ralphs, Boz Burrell, and Chris Cornell) who have died, leaving Rock Hall producers more segments to fill with tributes.

The ceremony will stream live on Disney+ on November 8th.

Credit to Nick Bambach of the Rock in Retrospect podcast for breaking this story.

The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees were announced live during American Idol on Sunday, April 27th. The induction ceremony will be held in on November 8th at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

1. Joe Cocker: This should probably become an official rule at this point: If Paul McCartney puts his stamp of approval on your candidacy, you're as good as gold.
2. Cyndi Lauper: After playing nice with the Rock Hall the last few years, the Nominating Committee gave Lauper a clear ballot path to induction. Lauper has been the leading vote getter on the Ballot Tracker, appearing on over 75% of known ballots. This should be her year.
3. Outkast: Also doing extremely well with voters is the only hip hop artist on the ballot. The Nominating Committee should feel ashamed they made Outkast wait this long. Artists with first-ballot Hall of Fame credentials are increasingly rare, so it's absurd the Hall of Fame is just finally getting around to these legends.
4. Bad Company: As has been said many times, they appear to be this year's Foreigner. They have the support of their peers, and they haven't been shy about teasing their appearance at the induction ceremony.
5. Chubby Checker: Here's an artist who may benefit from the e-ballot system which will prompt snap judgments from voters who probably think he was already inducted decades ago. A closer inspection of his candidacy would reveal some of the significant limitations in the depth of his career, but how many voters are going to dig deeper?
6. Billy Idol: It was a good sign for Idol's chances when he revealed in an early interview after the ballot was released that his longtime collaborator Steve Stevens was included in his nomination. The Rock Hall rarely goes deeper with solo artists, so it showed that either Idol's team or the Hall were already thinking about his induction.
7. The White Stripes: Jack White has always venerated the legends that were among the first inductees in the Hall of Fame, and now he has the opportunity to join them. A White Stripes reunion performance would be guaranteed to be a highlight of the ceremony.
8. Soundgarden: In the last 10 years, only six artists have been inducted as performers after having been nominated more than three times. Soundgarden should make it in on their third try, with strong showings among public ballots and the fan vote.

• What about Mariah? It's hard to leave her out again, but she proved last year that she wasn't too big to fail. Some voters may have softened on her in since last year, but we're predicting it still won't be enough.
• Eight performer inductees again? Last year's high water mark may not be back given the length of last year's ceremony, but we'll see what other priorities the Hall of Fame has in the other categories.
• Joy Division / New Order are one of the most deserving artists on the ballot and yet they will probably miss out again. This is a case where the Rock Hall waited way too long to get them on the ballot and their cultural relevance has faded.
• Phish will win the Fan Vote which will keep them in the annual Hall of Fame conversation for a few years, but their performance in that poll is one of the weakest of any leader in recent history, so the Rock Hall may decide to go in a different fan-friendly direction.
• If Chubby Checker gets in, he'll be the second artist from the defunct Singles Category to be inducted into the Rock Hall proper, after Link Wray did it in 2023.
• The behind-the-scenes PR campaign for Cocker would have been better timed to roll out during the old paper ballot system, when voters had a week or two to wait before having to make their final decisions. Under the new e-ballot system, the majority of voting is probably completed within just a few days after the nominees are revealed. (The Rock Hall should reconsider when they send out official ballots. Waiting a week or two could be beneficial.)
• What do our readers think is going to happen? The results from our own prediction poll:
  

• The Rock Hall's "Fan Vote" winners were Phish, Bad Company, Billy Idol, Cyndi Lauper, Soundgarden, Joe Cocker, and Chubby Checker.
• For the special categories, we'll predict that Iron Maiden will get forced in as Musical Excellence (with just a video package at the ceremony since they probably won't show up), and Carol Kaye will finally get her due.
• Will the Hall of Fame continue nominating and/or inducting artists just after they die? Maybe? The Rock Hall has shown they don't care how crass it looks and will use the morbid momentum to do what should have been done years ago.

Who do you think will be inducted? Leave your thoughts below.

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There are a wide variety of artists who have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, each with a unique set of characteristics that made them stand out from their peers. Those attributes can range from the objective (#1 singles, record sales, Grammy wins) to others that are more difficult to measure (impact, influence, musical excellence).

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame doesn't provide much guidance about what they believe is most important, so every voter (and fan) creates their own mix of attributes they feel are the most important.

We conducted a poll asking voters to rank the most important attributes. The following are the results of the survey:

The top vote getters are not much of a surprise and are generally accepted as the most important criteria for induction. It's more interesting to see what isn't critical to most people: Grammys and other awards, being great live, and having a radio and chart presence. In recent years, members of the Rock Hall nominating committee have taken to quoting sales numbers or Billboard performance when making the case for artists. Others tend to cite radio airplay as a meaningful metric of importance while ignoring the fact that a handful of corporate media companies control the playlists.

The Rock Hall, under the direction of John Sykes, whose day job is embedded in corporate radio and handing out meaningless industry awards, is demonstrating through their ballots that its values are flipped upside down from what most people want a Hall of Fame to recognize.

Updated with results on April 9, 2025

The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees were announced at 6:00am EST on February 12th. Inductees will be revealed in late April, and will be honored at a ceremony in Los Angeles in the fall.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's chairman opened up in a long interview that he is actively looking for synergies between his role as chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and his day job as president of entertainment enterprises at iHeartMedia.

In an interview with Bobby Bones, Sykes went into a lot of detail about the inclusion of different genres, and how he has steered the Hall of Fame back to what he considers its roots. Things got more interesting around the 13 minute mark when Bones asked Sykes about inducting problematic artists into the Rock Hall:

Bones: Is there ever a struggle to separate the art from the artist? Meaning if it turns out somebody that's really crushed it over course of 20, 30 or 40 years but isn't that great of a person, or there's been some stories... Do you ever just go we can't do it because they're kind of a douchebag?

Sykes: The answer is no. We're actually blind to as you would say, "the douchebag filter" and it really is based on who they are. And by the way, some of the rock and roll artists were bad boys and bad girls and they broke some rules and that's kind of why we liked them growing up, because we could live vicariously through them.

That's a nice answer, but is it actually true? The Baseball Hall of Fame does have a "character clause" to include sportsmanship and PEDs in its criteria, but the Pro Football Hall tries to keep it solely to on-field accomplishments (but voters don't always hold to it). The Rock Hall famously has no rules or criteria for induction.

Where does the Rock Hall actually stand on this through their recent actions? We see Kanye West's candidacy in 2027 as the ultimate test of their mettle, but the disappearance of The Smiths on the ballot since 2016 can only really be explained by Morrissey's controversial political stances. Sykes would only mention "bad boy" behavior of Keith Richards as an example of them not having a "douchebag filter," but it doesn't seem they give Nominating Committee blinders when they walk into the meeting.

The other notable part of the interview was when Bones asked about what Sykes actually does at iHeart Media, and in the context of discussing the brand and the power of having 800 radio stations, he dropped this anecdote about talking to his bosses when he was offered to take over the Rock Hall:

Sykes: Bob [Pittman] was the first one to say, "Hey, they offered you [the chairmanship of] the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, you take it - you take it. Why? You build it as a part of the iHeart ecosystem." And sure enough, a lot of the artists that have played the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have gone on to play our Festival. LL Cool J, Lionel Richie, and now Sheryl Crow will play this year... and Dolly Parton you know we want her to come and do a cameo at the Festival this year. So to me it it's all part of, again the ecosystem, not to overuse the word or term, but to have Bob and Rich [Bressler] saying to me, "we're good, whatever you want to do, let's try it." And the day I don't make enough money or we're not, I'm not promoting enough well that'll be my last day, but I think so far it's been a great ride with wonderful people.

It's been hard not to notice the shift in the tone of the Rock Hall since Sykes took over. The overlap of talent with iHeart events is real and it has crept onto the ballots (hello Lenny Kravitz). Is this good for the Rock Hall? Unless you're a fan of more corporate blandness, the answer is clearly no. It's not like the Hall of Fame was struggling to get talent in the pre-Sykes era. The sameness of it all (hello Jelly Roll) now just takes away from what was great about the Hall of Fame.

Sykes has done some positive things since taking over for Jann Wenner, but the iHeartification of the Hall of Fame is not one of them.

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We've said this before, but it bears repeating: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has the unique ability to simultaneously honor and insult an artist's career. Guns N' Roses, KISS, Steve Miller, and Dire Straits have all had inductions that somehow turned into a slap in the face. This year's inductee with that distinction is Foreigner.

Sidenote: In another recent example, Mariah Carey, after being nominated for "Music's Highest Honor™" this year, noted in an interview that "my lawyer got in before me," referring to Allen Grubman's 2022 induction, which spoke volumes about the credibility and priorities of the Rock Hall in just a few words.

Prior to 2024, Foreigner had been eligible for over 20 years without ever appearing on a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ballot. Band members were frequently asked about their snub, and they seemed resigned to it never happening. But buoyed by the ouster of their perceived blacklister, Jann Wenner, and an unprecedented publicity push from their management and Mick Jones's son-in-law, Mark Ronson, there was renewed hope to get them inducted. Ronson recruited a star-studded lineup (including Nominating Committee member Dave Grohl) to make the case for them in a video widely shared on social media.

Can you believe Foreigner is not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?? Vote here: https://t.co/MwTwEsSvXB pic.twitter.com/bnuXIivLXd

— Foreigner (@ForeignerMusic) February 20, 2024

The campaign worked, not only with the fans, who lifted Foreigner to third in the Fan Vote standings, but with actual voters with ballots. The outcome seemed inevitable enough that Lou Gramm was already talking about the performance at the ceremony a month before voting ended. But just a few days after the inductees were announced, Gramm revealed there were negotiations with Rock Hall producers about their induction ceremony segment length.

Foreigner's Lou Gramm says that Rock Hall producers have already cut down the time allotted for their induction segment and they may only be able to perform one song. https://t.co/jewrWOD5kH pic.twitter.com/ZH0rp7rl12

— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklgnds) April 24, 2024

Gramm understood that "I Want to Know What Love Is" had to be one of the songs in the ceremony, but he clearly wanted "Juke Box Hero" played as well, as a rock song counterpoint to the ballad that would better mark the occasion of being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

About three weeks before the induction ceremony, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced many of the presenters and performers who would be at the ceremony (Foreigner was also listed as performing). They announced that Demi Lovato, Sammy Hagar, Slash, and Chad Smith would be performing a tribute to Foreigner. A week later, Kelly Clarkson was added to the list of artists in the Foreigner segment. Yes, that's three announced singers, and performances are usually only three songs, so how would Foreigner fit into that?

At this point, Foreigner (and their management), should have known what the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame producers were doing, which is marginalizing the band in their own induction. Despite the fact that none of Foreigner's members who were getting inducted are currently touring with "Foreigner," Gramm was clearly interested in performing with a mix of original and new members.

Two days before the ceremony, in a sign that things were starting to unravel, Dennis Elliott, the band's original drummer, posted on Facebook that he was skipping the event.

Dear Foreigner Fans & Friends, Don't look too hard, we will not be there. We were finally given the schedule last night, and it is not to our satisfaction. So we are staying home. We have been asking for this for weeks, and they have waited until the very last minute to send it knowing we were all packed and going to bed.

Elliott was referring to himself and his wife, not the entire band, but it seemed clear that the issue with the "schedule" was likely due to his reduced involvement in the performance. A followup article from Billboard, included a pathetic attempt at damage control from "sources in Cleveland," that suggested Elliott wasn't coming because he was told his wife couldn't walk the red carpet. At the same time Elliott revealed he wasn't coming, it was confirmed that Mick Jones also wouldn't attend due to his health issues associated with Parkinson's. That left only Lou Gramm, Al Greenwood, and Rick Wills as inducted members to represent the band at the ceremony. (Ed Gagliardi and Ian McDonald were also posthumously inducted.)

At the ceremony, Sammy Hagar gave a 7 1/2 minute induction speech before introducing Demi Lovato to sing "Feels Like the First Time" with Slash, Chad Smith, and some of Foreigner's touring band backing her up. Hagar reemerged to lead the tribute performance of "Hot Blooded." For the last song, Kelly Clarkson came out to take the lead on "I Want To Know What Love Is," before Lou Gramm finally emerged for the second verse.

The total length of the Foreigner segment at the ceremony was 30 minutes, divided between speeches, a 5-minute video, and the three songs. Lou Gramm performed on stage for two of those minutes.

After the dust settled from the ceremony, Lou Gramm went on Eddie Trunk's radio show and discussed the event, and said he was told it was "time constraints" that the band didn't get to perform together (emphasis ours):

Eddie Trunk: "If someone else is singing it, the song's getting done either way, right?"

Gramm: "I don't think anybody else sang 'Juke Box Hero', but I know they did 'Hot Blooded' and 'Feels Like the First Time'. So I thought an edited version of 'I Wanna Know What Love Is' into an edited version of 'Juke Box Hero' would've been okay. You know, but he didn't explain to me. He just said, 'No, it's not gonna work.'"

Trunk: "Having worked on some of these award shows myself over the years, in various capacities, the managers, sometimes the artists themselves, the event, they always like younger different artists kind of showing that they loved an older band. So in your case, that's a little bit how I read that as well, with the manager maybe saying “no” in that, 'Well, it looks really cool to have Kelly Clarkson or Demi Lovato up there.' Because these are younger current people who are showing how much they loved Foreigner."

Gramm: "Yeah. You know, but the thing for me is I am first and foremost a rock singer, and it is the Rock Hall of Fame. And somehow I couldn't sing a rock song at the Rock Hall of Fame when I'm being inducted? It doesn't make any sense to me, and it sticks in my craw."

Trunk: "I give you credit and the whole Foreigner camp credit, because as much as this may have been difficult and sticky, you still did the best you could given what you had to work with."

Gramm: "Dennis didn't even come… The reason Dennis didn't come was because he found out from management a number of days before Rick, Al and I found out that we weren't gonna play. As soon as Dennis found out that we weren't performing on our night, he decided he wasn't gonna come. And we're just going, 'Dennis, come on. Come. We're gonna play. We're gonna play.' And Dennis goes, 'No, I'm not gonna come. I'm not gonna come.' And then we found out the afternoon of the show that we weren't performing. We thought we were gonna be performing, and Dennis was gonna be there, and we'd have the guitar player from the new Foreigner play mixed parts and play a couple songs. And then we found out at the last minute that it was the new Foreigner who was gonna be playing and Rick and Al would be standing there singing background vocals."

Trunk: "So Rick and Al did not play instruments at all?"

Gramm: "No. Dennis knew about it before anybody else. And he says, 'If we're not, if I'm not playing, I'm not coming.'"

Trunk: "If you would've known sooner, would you have shown?"

Gramm: "I don't know. I didn't know sooner. I didn't know sooner. And when I found out that that's why he didn't come, I even got more angrier, but not at him. It was almost like there was a fast one being played."

To quote Paul McCartney from his Foreigner campaign video, what the fuck?

Rock Hall producers simply decided, that despite being willing and able, they didn't want Foreigner to perform themselves, and then had the tenacity to not let the band know until day or two before the ceremony (Gramm says it was that afternoon!). Instead, they plugged in artists with no personal connection to the band simply to add more contemporary star power to the marquee, without regard to the artist they were supposedly trying to honor, or to the fans who went to Cleveland to see them perform.

The Hall of Fame's relatively recent obsession with collaborations reached a new low this year. Producers are chasing Grammys-style "moments" with unexpected duets and collaborations at the expense of honoring the artists who are receiving their lifetime achievement award. Why should half of Cher's time taken up with Dua Lipa? Why can't Chaka Khan perform a single song by herself instead of sharing the stage with H.E.R., Sia, and Common? What is Dave Grohl doing out there with Lionel Richie? You're now getting living, actively performing inductees, who are forced to share the stage with (in some cases) marginal artists who have no business being on a Hall of Fame stage.

And yes, of course this is because the TV networks want to make the show as big as possible, but the Rock Hall needs to keep in mind they are there to honor the inductees, not serve Disney shareholders. These people have waited a lifetime for this. Stop with the iHeart Music awards bullshit already, and do right by your inductees.

The 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony is just over a month away but very little has been announced about who will be attending and performing. Unlike last year's New York event, this year's Cleveland ceremony sold out quickly so the Hall of Fame doesn't have soft ticket sales as an incentive to promote the show. Expect the Rock Hall or Disney+ to release some specifics in the next week or two. On to the speculation:

1. Which inductees will be attending the ceremony?

   Nothing has been confirmed but it's likely that all eight performer inductees will attend: Mary J. Blige, Cher, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & the Gang, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Matthews Band, and A Tribe Called Quest.

2. Which of those artists will perform?

   Mary J. Blige, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & the Gang, and Dave Matthews Band all seem like safe bets to perform short sets at the ceremony. Rock Hall antagonist Cher softened her stance against the institution after she was inducted, so she will probably perform as well. Ozzy Osbourne has been public about his desire to perform at the ceremony, but his significant health issues may be too much to overcome. A Tribe Called Quest played their last show in 2017, a year after losing founding member Phife Dawg. Combined with the Rock Hall's mixed history of getting hip hop artists to perform at the ceremony, a Tribe performance seems unlikely.

3. Can we expect any performances for the side category inductees?

   The Rock Hall has a wide range of ways to honor inductees in the Musical Excellence and Musical Influence categories. The segment can be anywhere from only short video tribute (e.g. Elizabeth Cotten in 2022) to a full-blown induction segment with a video, speech, and performance (e.g. LL Cool J in 2021). This year, of the seven inductees in these categories, only Dionne Warwick is still alive. As a former nominee in the performer category, she should receive a complete inductee segment. For Jimmy Buffett, an all-star tribute performance of "Margaritaville" seems all but guaranteed along with the requisite video package. The MC5 will likely get an induction speech and video but no tribute performance. Big Mama Thornton, on the other hand, seems like a perfect candidate to receive a tribute performance including "Hound Dog" and "Ball and Chain." In the interest of time, the Rock Hall will likely combine the Alexis Korner and John Mayall segments and punctuate them with a guitar god performance, like last year's Jimmy Page appearance for Link Wray. Non-Performer inductee Suzanne de Passe will get the standard video and speech.

4. Who will be giving the induction speeches?

   Nothing has been announced, but expect the usual mix of celebrities, past inductees, and future Hall of Famers. After the inductees were announced on American Idol earlier this year, the potential for more ABC/Disney crossover increased exponentially.

5. Who will get the closing slot?

   It's unfair to call any inductee the headliner, but there's little doubt that the majority of the audience in Cleveland will be there primarily for Dave Matthews Band. The induction ceremonies are five-hour marathons that test the stamina of even the most die hard music fans. Last year's final performance by Missy Elliott was one of the best in the Rock Hall's history but was played to a half-full arena. Holding Dave Matthews Band until the end will guarantee the night ends with a full house.

6. Will Cher trash the Hall of Fame in her speech?

   Before she was nominated, Cher had said she would never attend even if the Hall "gave me a million dollars… I’m never going to change my mind. They can just you-know-what themselves." After she was inducted, Cher backtracked and confirmed she would attend but cryptically said, "I’m going to have some words to say. I’m going to accept it as me." Cher has publicly discussed her absence from the Rock Hall for over 14 years, so it will be interesting to see how far she will go criticizing the institution in her speech as she's on stage holding the trophy.

7. Will Boyd Tinsley show up at the ceremony?

   Violinist Boyd Tinsley left the Dave Matthews Band in 2018 amid sexual misconduct accusations and hasn't been actively performing since then. Following a DWI arrest this summer, it seems doubtful that he will attend the ceremony with his former bandmates, but he is an inductee nonetheless.

8. When is the induction ceremony again?

   Saturday, October 19th at 6:30pm. The event is sold out, but tickets are available on the secondary market starting at $400. If you aren't in the building, the show can be viewed live on Disney+.

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Apple Music recently convened a panel of their own experts as well as "a select group of artists" to develop a list of the 100 Best Albums of all time. Unlike some old Rolling Stone lists which leaned heavily on boomer nostalgia, Apple's list includes a wide range of albums across the last 60+ years of popular music. As you might expect, many Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are represented, taking up 56 slots on the list. Of the 44 albums by non-Hall of Famers, 23 are by artists not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame.

The top ranked eligible artists are Lauryn Hill, Dr. Dre, Daft Punk, Alanis Morissette, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Outkast, and Björk. As of 2024, none of those artists have been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Apple Music's full list below, with eligibility dates noted for non-Hall of Famers:

1. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Eligible 2023
2. Michael Jackson - Thriller
3. The Beatles - Abbey Road
4. Prince - Purple Rain
5. Frank Ocean - Blonde - Eligible 2036
6. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
7. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city - Eligible 2034
8. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black - Eligible 2028
9. Nirvana - Nevermind
10. Beyonce - Lemonade - Eligible 2027
11. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
12. Radiohead - OK Computer
13. Jay-Z - The Blueprint
14. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
15. Adele - 21 - Eligible 2032
16. Joni Mitchell - Blue
17. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
18. Taylor Swift - 1989 (Taylor's Version) - Eligible 2031
19. Dr. Dre - The Chronic - Eligible 2018
20. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
21. The Beatles - Revolver
22. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
23. Daft Punk - Discovery - Eligible 2020
24. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
25. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
26. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Eligible 2027
27. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
28. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
29. A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
30. Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? - Eligible 2041
31. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill - Eligible 2017
32. The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
33. Radiohead - Kid-A
34. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
35. The Clash - London Calling
36. Beyonce - BEYONCE - Eligible 2027
37. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (38-Chambers) - Eligible 2018
38. Carole King - Tapestry
39. Nas - Illmatic - Eligible 2018
40. Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
41. Outkast - Aquemini - Eligible 2019
42. Janet Jackson - Control
43. Talking Heads - Remain in Light
44. Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
45. Bjork - Homogenic - Eligible 2003
46. Bob Marley and the Wailers - Exodus
47. Drake - Take Care - Eligible 2034
48. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
49. U2 - The Joshua Tree
50. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
51. Prince - Sign of the Times
52. Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
53. The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
54. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme - Eligible 1986
55. Rihanna - Anti - Eligible 2030
56. The Cure - Disintegration
57. D'Angelo - Voodoo - Eligible 2021
58. Oasis - What's the Story Morning Glory - Eligible 2020
59. Arctic Monkeys - AM - Eligible 2030
60. The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground and Nico
61. Sade - Love Deluxe - Eligible 2010
62. Tupac - All Eyez on Me
63. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
64. Erykah Badu - Baduizm - Eligible 2022
65. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising - Eligible 2014
66. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead - Eligible 2009
67. Portishead - Dummy - Eligible 2020
68. The Strokes - Is This It - Eligible 2026
69. Metallica - Master of Puppets
70. N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton
71. Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express
72. SZA - SOS - Eligible 2039
73. Steely Dan - Aja
74. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
75. Missy Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly
76. Bad Bunny - Un Verano Senti - Eligible 2041
77. Madonna - Like a Prayer
78. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
79. Lana Del Rey - Norman F***ing Rockwell - Eligible 2033
80. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
81. Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
82. 50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin' - Eligible 2024
83. Patti Smith - Horses
84. Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle - Eligible 2019
85. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour - Eligible 2037
86. Mary J. Blige - My Life
87. Massive Attack - Blue Lines - Eligible 2014
88. Nina Simone - I Put a Spell on You
89. Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster (Deluxe Edition) - Eligible 2033
90. AC/DC - Back in Black
91. George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
92. Tyler, The Creator - Flower Boy - Eligible 2034
93. Solange - A Seat at the Table - Eligible 2027
94. Burial - Untrue - Eligible 2030
95. Usher - Confessions - Eligible 2019
96. Lorde - Pure Heroine - Eligible 2037
97. Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
98. Travis Scott - ASTROWORLD - Eligible 2038
99. Eagles - Hotel California
100. Robyn - Body Talk - Eligible 2021

On their website, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame succinctly explains the process of how artists in the performer category are chosen:

Each year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation's Nominating Committee selects the group of artists nominated in the Performer Category. Ballots are then sent to more than 1,000 historians, members of the music industry and artists—including every living Rock Hall Inductee—and the top performers (typically five to seven each year) receiving the most votes become that year's induction class.

The Rock Hall has never released a full list of all of their voters, but it is well known that it changes from year-to-year as new artists are inducted and when music industry voters cycle in and out.

In the last couple of years, it's been revealed that there is a policy that voters can be removed from the list if they don't return their ballots two years in a row. Based on the rule above, it seemed logical that this policy would only apply to the discretionary voter selections made by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and its president Joel Peresman, not the inductees.

However, on a member-exclusive episode of the Who Cares About the Rock Hall? podcast, DJ Yella (2016 inductee with N.W.A) revealed that he hasn't received a ballot in years. At the end of the episode, host Joe Kwaczala shared that an inside source believed that the policy about losing your ballot after not returning it two years in a row was likely the reason Yella couldn't vote.

A few thoughts on this revelation:

1. This is f**king insane!
2. It's one thing to take away a vote from an absentee critic or industry person, but doing it to a Hall of Famer is indefensible.
3. How long has this been going on? The Rock Hall has unequivocally stated that "every living Rock Hall inductee" receives a ballot for as long as we can remember.
4. Apparently Hall of Famers lose voting privileges for life if they miss two ballots in a row. Again, this is insane!
5. Does anyone think the Rock Hall applies this "rule" to all Hall of Famers, or just ones they don't care as much about? There is zero chance they would do this to Hall of Fame favorites like Bruce Springsteen or Paul McCartney.
6. What is the possible justification for doing this? Is it too much hassle to keep inductees' addresses current? Are you trying to save on postage? Are there some inductees' opinions you don't value? Seriously, someone try to justify this policy.
7. On the other hand, there are countless legitimate reasons an inductee may not return their ballot. Maybe they moved. Maybe they've been on tour. Maybe they don't like the nominees. None of those reasons should mean they lose their voting rights.
8. And yes, for inductees, these are voting RIGHTS. The Rock Hall is unique among peer institutions exactly because inductees vote who else gets in! Whoever instituted this policy has zero understanding of what gives an induction its significance.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame should publicly address this policy shift and clearly state how many inductees have lost their voting rights through this year. Moving forward, they need to reverse course and send ballots to ALL of their Hall of Famers, without exception. (And then get rid of the person that came up with this "policy" in the first place.)

The 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees were announced live during American Idol on Sunday, April 21st. The induction ceremony will be held in Cleveland on Saturday, October 19th.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame voting ends on April 15th and they will officially announce the class of 2024 by the end of the month. Future Rock Legends predicts the inductees in the Performer category will be:

1. Kool & the Gang: The overwhelming support for Kool & the Gang from voters who have made their ballots public is unprecedented. The Rock Hall is probably kicking itself for waiting so long to nominate such a wildly successful band that crossed multiple genres and decades, and is clearly beloved.
2. Cher: Despite her suspicious public protestations about the Hall of Fame before she was nominated, Cher will likely cooperate and walk in after finally making her first ballot.
3. Foreigner: There's never been a public campaign like the one organized by Mark Ronson in support of his stepfather (Mick Jones). The band was eager to embrace the endorsements of Hall of Famers like Paul McCartney, Slash, Dave Grohl, and Chad Smith, and also heavily promoted the Fan Vote.
4. Peter Frampton: There was an outpouring of love when Frampton performed with Sheryl Crow at the 2023 induction ceremony, which vaulted him onto this year's ballot. Frampton's career peak in the 1970s was in the sweet spot for a significant chunk of voters who were coming of age during that time.
5. A Tribe Called Quest: The Rock Hall seems to want Tribe to get inducted before they can move on to other equally deserving hip hop artists such as Wu Tang and OutKast. Expect ATCQ to make the cut this year to open up future ballots for others.
6. Sinead O'Connor: As unfortunate as it was that it took her death to get the Nominating Committee's attention, the career reflection that followed gives Hall of Fame voters a unique opportunity to cement that legacy.
7. Lenny Kravitz: Like Sheryl Crow last year, Kravitz has countless friends in the industry that he can count on for votes. As a musical chameleon, he appeals to multiple demographics.

Additional Notes and Open Questions:

• The Rock Hall's rule change to allow voters to select seven artists instead of just five has been a massive improvement. Listening to voters work through their ballots on the Who Cares About the Rock Hall? podcast has shown that much of the pretzel logic voting of past years is gone. We're glad the Rock Hall finally took our suggestion ;)
• It's going to be fascinating to see how the increase to seven picks will impact the voting. The expansion could lead to some unexpected results.
• Allowing voters choose seven artists implies they will induct seven names from the ballot, but they haven't explicitly said they will do that. After inducting seven in 2022 and 2023, anything less than that will be a disappointment given the giant backlog.
• What about Ozzy? Despite his icon status, voters may look another way because 1) he's already an inductee with Black Sabbath, and 2) metal doesn't get much respect from the Rock Hall's voters.
• Dave Matthews Band dominated the official Fan Vote, and if they get passed over again, they'll cement their position as the number one populist snub.
• Is Mariah Carey too big to fail? It will be a tough pill to swallow for a star of her magnitude to miss out on a career achievement like this, but for whatever reason, voter support appears to be soft.
• Lenny Kravitz has had a quiet a year. He's already performed two career-spanning medleys at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Festival and the 2023 People's Choice Awards, where he picked up a Music Icon Award. Just last month he was honored by his daughter and Denzel Washington when getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After all of that, a Rock Hall induction may seem redundant.
• The public health issues of Ozzy, Peter Frampton, and key members of Foreigner, could certainly motivate voters to cast their votes for them this year.
• What do our readers think is going to happen? The results from our own prediction poll:





• The 2024 induction ceremony will be back in Cleveland this fall and will likely sell out quickly, no matter who gets inducted. Last year the Rock Hall was forced to lower their exorbitant ticket prices after demand was soft for the Brooklyn ceremony.
• Paul McCartney has appeared at two of the last three Cleveland ceremonies. Maybe he'll be back again this year?

Foreigner's a lock. https://t.co/TcTupbD4Dp

— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklgnds) February 27, 2024

• The Rock Hall's "Fans Ballot" winners were Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Ozzy Osbourne, Cher, Lenny Kravitz, and Kool & the Gang. Historically fan vote winners have been inducted slightly more than 50% of the time, so it's no guarantee of induction (last year only one artist from the top five made it in).
• Lastly, a quick plug for our other websites which, like this site, focus on the greatest of all-time in their respective categories: Future Country Legends, Future Hip Hop Legends, and Future Football Legends. If you're into best-of lists and Halls of Fame, you'll find a lot to like over there.


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