The Rock ‘N Roll HOF “Fan Vote” Spotlights Musical Competition

Many a fight has broken out over what rock ‘n roll performers get into The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio (the above photo features my wife Meg and I visiting The Hall back in 2008)…fans criticize the judges decisions, whine about who gets left out, etc. Now there is a “Fan Voting” component to the HOF selections, adding ANOTHER layer of “who’s more deserving than who” to the mix. According to the latest fan voting information,  fans are favoring the British New Wave pioneers Duran Duran for induction in 2022; the 80’s rockers have taken the lead in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s fan vote, grabbing the No. 1 spot from Eminem as of last week. However, “Slim Shady” still has plenty of time to regain the “lead,” with only 200 votes separating the two acts (fan voting ends April 29th). The top five artists on the list will be added to a “fan ballot,” which is counted along with the other ballots to determine the 2022 inductees. Is this fair? Is this right? Is Rock Music really a competition? Although it IS cool to refer to your favorite rock artists as “Hall Of Famers,” are musical acts competing with each other the same way football and baseball players are? Should we base Rock ‘n Roll HOF entries on statistics, like other Halls do? If that was the case, record sales would push artists like Motley Crue and Quiet Riot in (which would make a lot of 80’s pop-metal fans happy). There are probably no universally-acceptable guidelines to determine musical worthiness, so be prepared for more battles as The Hall fills up 🙂

John Young