Despite winning the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame fan vote this year, New Edition failed to make the cut for induction when the honorees were announced. Other acts who did well in the fan vote, including Pink, Shakira and INXS, also didn’t get in, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame President Greg Harris tells ABC Audio why that is.
Despite 9 million fan votes being cast this year, Harris explains, “In the end, the fan vote really counts for just a singular ballot in the bigger process.” Simply put, the fan vote results are treated as one ballot, among the 1,200 other ballots that go out to voting members.
“The reason for that is because it would mean that the artists with the biggest social media following, they would always be dominating in a fan vote,” Harris says.
However, he notes, “Those that have received a strong showing [in the fan vote], many of them ultimately have been inducted.” Dave Matthews Band, for example, won in 2020 but didn’t get in until 2024.
On the other hand, Phil Collins, already in the Hall as a member of Genesis, was #2 in the fan vote. He got in on his first time on the ballot, though Harris says he’s someone whose “name has come up” over the years.
“His solo career really was one of the defining careers of the eighties. His music was everywhere,” Harris says of Collins. “But then I think what really added to that was he’s also such an in-demand collaborator and session musician.”
Indeed, Collins has worked with dozens of other artists, including Eric Clapton, Robert Plant and Paul McCartney, and his songs are among rappers’ favorites to sample.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will debut on ABC and Disney+ in December.
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