In 2013, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame began allowing fans to have a say in who gets inducted, via the “fan vote.”
The fan vote actually doesn’t carry much weight, but it’s a way for those who love music to make their voices heard.
Artists like Kiss, Journey, and the Dave Matthews Band have won the fan vote and gotten immediately inducted. Conversely, Phish won the fan vote in 2025, but didn’t get inducted.
How can you vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? How are votes counted in the induction process? Which bands have won the fan vote in the past?
Read on for a complete guide to the Rock Hall’s fan vote process.
How Can Fans Vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Fans are able to vote for their favorites using the online ballot at https://vote.rockhall.com/. Users have to enter an email address or phone number to participate.
The ballot lists all 16 Rock Hall nominees. Fans may select up to 7 as their picks for induction.
The fan vote ballot stays online throughout the entire voting season, which runs for several weeks. In 2025, the fan vote ran from February to April, giving folks about two months to submit their choices.
The Rock Hall keeps a running tally of vote totals so everyone can see how their favorites are doing.
Voting is capped at one vote per person per day, to avoid ballot stuffing. Sometimes, fan groups will try to find loopholes to submit extra votes, but the Hall works to identify and void these efforts.
“We most definitely track and void duplicate votes that exceed this cap – as well take steps necessary to prevent voting that is inconsistent with our voting parameters,” the Hall tweeted in 2022.
How Important is the Fan Vote?
Not that important, sadly. This is the part that a lot of people don’t understand.
Many seem to be under the impression that the fan vote carries significant weight, but it does not.
After all of the fan votes are received, they are tallied up. That tally is then counted as one ballot for the Hall of Fame. One ballot out of 1200.
That means it counts for less than 0.1% of the overall vote.
John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, has made some conflicting statements over the years regarding the importance of the fan ballot.
He tries to promote the fan vote as a way to allow people to have their voices heard, and he implies that the one vote could make a difference.
“Sometimes, 10 or 20 votes can make the difference in an artist being inducted, so that one vote could come in handy,” Sykes told Billboard. Also, it could serve to influence other voters: “We always share the fan vote with the nominating committee.”
On the other hand, he has mentioned repeatedly that he can’t take the fan vote too seriously, because artists with obsessive fan armies could stack the ballot box to guarantee their artist will win.
“Being in this business for years, I know fan clubs are very aggressive,” Sykes told Vulture. “Artists who have great fan clubs tend to get a lot of votes. So we know who can stuff the ballot box and who can’t. So we certainly look at the fan vote, but it’s in no way, shape, or form an indication of who’s going to get in.”
Fan Vote Records
It’s interesting that the total number of fan votes has gone down over the years. In 2025, Phish won with about 329,000 votes. That total would only have ranked them 6th in 2024 and 10th in 2023.
Perhaps as more folks are realizing just how little importance the fan vote has, they are deciding not to participate. Or, the Hall could be doing a better job of weeding out suspicious votes.
There have been anomalies in the voting, particularly in 2015 and 2016, when some bands exceeded 20,000,000 votes. That could not have happened organically, and was likely done with bots.
In any case, here are some fan vote records. Vote totals confirmed via rockhall.com, WKYC.com, futurerocklegends.com.
Most votes earned (not counting the anomaly years of 2015 and 2016):
Bon Jovi 1,162,146 (2018)
Dave Matthews Band 1,005,657 (2020)
George Michael 1,044,258 (2023)
Moody Blues 947,795 (2018)
Cyndi Lauper 935,339 (2023)
Duran Duran 934,880 (2022)
Fewest votes earned:
The Meters 17,272 (2014)
Link Wray 18,337 (2014)
Chic 18,395 (2014)
Joe Tex 20,172 (2017)
Paul Butterfield Blues Band 24,481 (2014)
LL Cool J 26,740 (2014)
The Replacements 31,490 (2014)
Mana 34,506 (2025)
Fun facts about Rock Hall Fan Voting:
-The #1 vote-getter in the fan vote has gotten inducted every year except two: Dave Matthews Band in 2020 and Phish in 2025.
–Jay-Z is the only artist to finish last in the fan vote (2021) and still get inducted.
Voting Results: Fan Vote Winners By Year
Here are the Rock Hall fan vote results by year. Artists shown in BOLD were actually inducted that year.
Originally, the top 5 vote-getters were the “winners” and were included on the official fan ballot, but in 2024 that changed to the top 7.
2025 Fan Vote
Winner: Phish (329,281 votes)
Others selected by the fans: Bad Company, Billy Idol, Cyndi Lauper, Joe Cocker, Soundgarden, Chubby Checker
Artists who did not make the cut: Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Joy Division/New Order, White Stripes, Outkast, Oasis, Maná
2024 Fan Vote
Winner: Dave Matthews Band (586,745 votes)
Others selected by the fans: Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne, Cher, Lenny Kravitz, Kool & the Gang
Artists who did not make the cut: Mariah Carey, Sinead O’Connor, Oasis, Sade, Jane’s Addiction, Mary J. Blige, A Tribe Called Quest, Eric B. & Rakim
2023 Fan Vote
Winner: George Michael (1,044,258 votes)
Others selected by the fans: Cyndi Lauper, Warren Zevon, Iron Maiden, Soundgarden
Artists who did not make the cut: Willie Nelson, Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Joy Division + New Order, The Spinners, Rage Against the Machine, The White Stripes, Missy Elliott, A Tribe Called Quest
2022 Fan Vote
Winner: Duran Duran (934,880 votes)
Others selected by the fans: Eminem, Pat Benatar, Eurythmics, Dolly Parton
Artists who did not make the cut: Judas Priest, Carly Simon, Lionel Richie, Devo, Kate Bush, Rage Against the Machine, Dionne Warwick, A Tribe Called Quest, New York Dolls, Beck, MC5, Fela Kuti
2021 Fan Vote
Winner: Tina Turner (590,842 votes)
Others selected by the fans: Fela Kuti, The Go‑Go’s, Iron Maiden, Foo Fighters
Artists who did not make the cut: Carole King, Todd Rundgren, Devo, Dionne Warwick, Chaka Khan, Rage Against the Machine, Kate Bush, New York Dolls, Mary J. Blige, LL Cool J, Jay‑Z
2020 Fan Vote
Winner: Dave Matthews Band (1,005,657 votes)
Others selected by the fans: Pat Benatar, The Doobie Brothers, Soundgarden, Judas Priest
Artists who did not make the cut: Whitney Houston, Depeche Mode, Thin Lizzy, Motörhead, Todd Rundgren, Nine Inch Nails, T. Rex, Notorious B.I.G., Rufus with Chaka Khan, Kraftwerk, MC5
2019 Fan Vote
Winner: Def Leppard (547,647 votes)
Others selected by the fans: Stevie Nicks, Todd Rundgren, The Zombies, The Cure
Artists who did not make the cut: Janet Jackson, Devo, Roxy Music, Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead, John Prine, LL Cool J, Rufus with Chaka Khan, Kraftwerk, MC5
2018 Fan Vote
Winner: Bon Jovi (1,162,146 votes)
Others selected by the fans: The Moody Blues, Dire Straits, The Cars, Judas Priest
Artists who did not make the cut: The Zombies, Eurythmics, The J. Geils Band, Depeche Mode, Nina Simone, Kate Bush, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, MC5, LL Cool J, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Link Wray, The Meters
2017 Fan Vote
Winner: Journey (250,758 votes)
Others selected by the fans: Electric Light Orchestra, Yes, Pearl Jam, The Cars
Artists who did not make the cut: Depeche Mode, Steppenwolf, 2Pac, The J. Geils Band, The Zombies, Janet Jackson, Jane’s Addiction, Joan Baez, Chaka Khan, MC5, Kraftwerk, Chic, Bad Brains, Joe Tex
2016 Fan Vote
Winner: Chicago (37,666,963 votes)*
Others selected by the fans: Yes, The Cars, Deep Purple, Steve Miller
Artists who did not make the cut: Janet Jackson, Cheap Trick, The Spinners, Chaka Khan, Chic, The J.B.’s, N.W.A, Nine Inch Nails, The Smiths, Los Lobos
2015 Fan Vote
Winner: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble (18,331,490 votes)*
Others selected by the fans: Nine Inch Nails, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Bill Withers, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Artists who did not make the cut: Lou Reed, War, Green Day, Sting, N.W.A, Kraftwerk, The Smiths, The Spinners, The Marvelettes, Chic
2014 Fan Vote
Winner: KISS (239,417 votes)
Others selected by the fans: Nirvana, Deep Purple, Yes, Hall & Oates
Artists who did not make the cut: Peter Gabriel, Linda Ronstadt, Cat Stevens, The Zombies, N.W.A, The Replacements, LL Cool J, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, Link Wray, The Meters
2013 Fan Vote
Winner: Rush (vote totals not revealed in 2013)
Others selected by the fans: Deep Purple, Heart, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Albert King
Artists who did not make the cut: Kraftwerk, Public Enemy, Donna Summer, Procol Harum, N.W.A, Randy Newman, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Meters, The Marvelettes, Chic
*vote totals are questionable for 2015 and 2016 due to anomalies in the voting
The Museum Fan Ballot
There’s one other way in which fans can share their opinions on who should get inducted,
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland also has fan vote kiosks, called Voice Your Choice.
From roughly February to April, while the official fan vote is going, the kiosks at the Rock Hall are the same as the online ballot. Fans select 7 of the nominees, and their votes are tallied.
During the rest of the year, the Vote Your Choice kiosks allow fans to vote for absolutely any artist, whether they’ve been on a ballot or not. The results don’t officially count for anything, but the results are shared with Hall voters.
The results of the Voice Your Choice kiosks aren’t formally published anywhere, but fans who vote at the museum in person can see the running leaderboard.
The Rock Hall website explains, “The interactive “Voice Your Choice” kiosks inside the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio allow visitors to submit the name of the artist they’d like to see on a future ballot. Each visitor gets one vote for their favorite eligible artist or band and a leaderboard displays the current top fan choices, refreshed weekly. The top 100 vote-getters from those kiosks are shared with the Nominating Committee when they meet.”
See the full list of Hall of Fame members, and see our list of the 100 biggest snubs.
Who do you think deserves to get inducted next?
Last Updated on February 25, 2026
I have tried to enter my fan vote 5 times with 5 different security codes and it comes back as wrong code. Please advise.
He is such a great artist. Great songs and his drumming is unbelieveable.