By most accounts, the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony was a huge success that had some memorable speeches and performances. The Rock Hall's recent trend of having large induction classes is a necessary and positive move after years of honoring the bare minimum number of artists and the institution's general neglect of the special categories.

The only downside to large induction classes (if you can call it that) are the practical time constraints of the ceremony to honor all of these people. How do you properly create tributes to 14 inductees with video packages, induction speeches, acceptance speeches, and performances, all within a reasonable time limit? It's a difficult challenge for producers who are forced to make hard decisions about what to cut to shorten things up.

Unfortunately, at the 2022 ceremony the Rock Hall failed on even the basic minimum requirements for three of its inductees: Elizabeth Cotten, Harry Belafonte, and Sylvia Robinson. Similar to previous years, those inductees were honored with short video segments outlining the importance of their careers. But unlike every other inductee* in the history of the Rock Hall, there was not a designated person to officially "induct" them into the Hall of Fame. It's a huge missed opportunity to connect the inductees to contemporary artists and simply to welcome them into the institution. It's a troubling sign that the producers could dispose of this foundational tradition that makes the induction ceremonies special.

An absolute bare minimum ceremony segment for ALL inductees (living or dead, in attendance or not) should have the following:

• Video package describing the inductee's career
• Having someone say the words, "It's my honor to welcome [inductee] into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame"
• If the inductee is alive, they should be given the opportunity to give a speech

That's it! Adding on presenter speeches, tribute performances, or allowing family members to accept on a deceased inductee's behalf are all great too, and should happen if there's time, but are understandable to omit when there are other living, present inductees to get to. The fact that the Rock Hall decided to overlook this minimal requirement with these three inductees is extremely unfortunate, and hopefully isn't the beginning of a trend.

See also The Rock Hall's Shameful Treatment of Dire Straits from 2018

1. 7:10pm - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board John Sykes kicks off the show with a welcome speech. Sykes honors Jon Landau, who has stepped down as chairman of the Nominating Committee. Rick Krim takes over in 2023.
2. 7:20 - Robert Downey, Jr. comes on to induct Duran Duran. They had teased an A-list celebrity beforehand and they came through. Downey's speech leads into the video package before the band comes on to play "Girls on Film," "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Ordinary World." A promised reunion with Andy Taylor unfortunately didn't happen, but Simon Le Bon read a letter from him on stage (Andy Taylor is battling stage 4 prostate cancer). Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, and Roger Taylor accepted their awards. Nick Rhodes advocated for a New York Dolls induction during his speech.
3. 7:52 - Janet Jackson, dressed exactly like she was on the Control album cover, comes on to induct Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis into the Musical Excellence Category. Her speech leads into the tribute video loaded with stars singing their praises, before their acceptance speeches.
4. 8:13 - Sheryl Crow enters to induct Pat Benatar. Performances are "All Fired Up," "Love Is A Battlefield", and "Heartbreaker"
5. 8:45 - Bruce Springsteen gives a brief induction speech for Jimmy Iovine, who is inducted in the Ahmet Ertegun Non-Performer Award category. Jimmy makes a long induction speech and nods to Gwen Stefani and Mary J. Blige who are in attendance.
6. 9:03 - Elizabeth Cotten is inducted into the Early Influence category with a short video segment. In an unusual move, there was no one in the video that officially inducted her into the Hall of Fame.
7. 9:06 - Alice Cooper takes the stage to induct Judas Priest into the Musical Excellence category and calls them "the definitive metal band." Judas Priest plays a medley including, "You've Got Another Thing Comin'," "Breaking the Law," and "Living After Midnight."
8. 9:33 - Sylvia Robinson is inducted into the Rock Hall in the Ahmet Ertegun Award in a video package, and like Cotten, without an inductor.
9. 9:39 - The Carly Simon tribute video precedes Sara Bareilles giving the presenter speech and reading Carly Simon's acceptance letter, then sings "Nobody Does It Better." Olivia Rodrigo comes on to perform "You're So Vain" with a full backing band. (A rumored appearance by Alanis Morissette didn't materialize.)
10. 9:55 - Allen Grubman gets inducted by John Mellencamp who gives a powerful speech against anti-semitism.
11. 10:20 - Harry Belafonte is inducted as an Early Influence with a video package. No speech and no inductor :(
12. 10:23 - Lenny Kravitz provides a heartfelt speech for Lionel Richie. The performance segment fittingly begins with "Hello." Dave Grohl then joins in on guitar for the Commodores' "Easy." Richie closes out his set with "All Night Long."
13. 10:56 - The Edge is the surprise presenter for Eurythmics. This is his third induction speech, previously inducting the Yardbirds in 1992 and The Clash in 2003. Eurythmics crush their performances of "Would I Lie To You?", "Missionary Man," and, of course, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart then accept their awards.
14. 11:23 - Dr. Dre returns to the Rock Hall stage to induct Eminem. The performance begins with a medley of "My Name Is" and "Rap God," before Steven Tyler comes out for "Sing for the Moment." Ed Sheeran joins Eminem for "Stan." He closes with a verse from "Forever" and "Not Afraid." Eminem gives a heartfelt speech and gives props to the dozens of artists that influenced him along the way.
15. 12:00 - In Memoriam video package, with the last name being Jerry Lee Lewis, who was the last member of the Rock Hall's inaugural class to pass away.
16. 12:03 - Pink is the last inductor of the night, and she gets the honor of welcoming Dolly Parton into the Hall of Fame. Dolly accepts the award, "I'm a rock star now!" Pink and Brandi Carlisle sing "Coat of Many Colors". Sheryl Crow and Zac Brown Band perform "9 to 5" while Dolly does a costume change. She emerges and joins Zac Brown Band to play a new song "Rockin'."
17. 12:33 - The All-Star Jam is "Jolene" and Dolly is joined by Rob Halford, Brandi Carlisle, Pink, Pat Benatar, Annie Lennox, and Simon Le Bon. Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp emerge to sing "High School Confidential" and "Great Balls of Fire" in tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis. At nearly 5 1/2 hours, that's a wrap.

The 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony takes place on Saturday, November 5th, and there is still a lot of mystery about who will be performing and presenting. Even without official word from the Rock Hall, a lot is already known about the expected segments (spoilers about the ceremony ahead):

Update 11/2: In an interview with Forbes, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Chairman John Sykes revealed the names of several special guests: Olivia Rodrigo, Alanis Morissette, Maren Morris, Zac Brown, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, The Edge, Pink, and Sheryl Crow. Articles in Variety stated that Springsteen will be inducting Jimmy Iovine and Mellencamp will be inducting Allen Grubman.

• Dolly Parton:
  Attending? Yes
  Performing? Yes
  Inductor? Miley Cyrus (unofficial)
  Dolly revealed in an interview with Pollstar that she will be performing a new "cute little rock 'n' roll song" called "Rockin'" that she wrote about the kerfuffle around her nomination and induction. Based on the leaked special guest lineup, Miley Cyrus, Dolly's goddaughter, will likely induct her. The inclusion of Brandi Carlisle on the leaked special guest list has led to speculation that she will also be involved in Dolly's performance.

• Eminem:
  Attending? Yes
  Performing? Yes
  Inductor? TBD
  After Eminem's surprise appearance in LL Cool J's induction performance last year, he will perform at his own induction in L.A. (potentially with his own surprise special guests).

• Carly Simon:
  Attending? No
  Performing? No
  Inductor? TBD
  After news last week of the tragic passing of Carly Simon's two sisters, it is understandable she won't be attending the ceremony. Her former guitarist revealed this week that "Carly will do a pre-recorded acceptance speech from Martha's Vineyard" and then he will be performing "You're So Vain" with Alanis Morisette and Olivia Rodrigo.

• Pat Benatar:
  Attending? Yes
  Performing? Yes
  Inductor? Sheryl Crow (unofficial)
  Benatar's husband and co-inductee, Neil Giraldo, has talked about how they will have 8 1/2 minutes for their ceremony performance. Don't expect to hear "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" though. Sheryl Crow appeared on the leaked special guest list and is a former collaborator of Benatar in a "Women Rock!" TV special, so she is a good fit to give the induction speech.

• Duran Duran:
  Attending? Yes
  Performing? Yes
  Inductor? TBD
  Simon Le Bon says they are "looking at a very big celebrity" to induct them into the Hall of Fame, and he also floated the possibility of Nile Rodgers performing with them at the ceremony. (Nile did not perform when he was inducted in 2017.) John Taylor has said he would love the closing slot ceremony and that they plan to play songs spanning their career from Rio to their latest album Future Past. The band has also indicated they will be reuniting with former guitarist Andy Taylor for their performance.

• Lionel Richie:
  Attending? Yes
  Performing? Yes
  Inductor? Lenny Kravitz (unofficial)
  There hasn't been a lot of news around Richie's induction, but with his close friend Lenny Kravitz's name on the leaked special guest list, there has been speculation that he will be involved in the ceremony.

• Eurythmics:
  Attending? Yes
  Performing? Yes
  Inductor? TBD
  Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart have been enthusiastic about their induction in recent interviews, so expect a memorable performance.

• Judas Priest:
  Attending? Yes
  Performing? Yes
  Inductor? Alice Cooper (unofficial)
  Musical Excellence inductees Judas Priest have been revealing a lot about their Rock Hall plans, including a massive reunion performance which includes K.K. Downing, Glenn Tipton, Richie Faulkner (not inducted), Scott Travis, Les Binks, Ian Hill and Rob Halford. The band has said they also have eight minutes to perform and plan to do a medley of songs. Alice Cooper was on the leaked special guest list and would fit the bill to induct his good friends.

• Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis:
  Attending? Yes
  Performing? Unlikely
  Inductor? Janet Jackson
  In a recent interview with the Musical Excellence inductees, it was revealed that Janet "will have a prepared speech" to induct the duo.

• Harry Belafonte:
  Attending? Unknown
  Performing? Unlikely
  Inductor? TBD
  Belafonte last appeared on a Rock Hall stage in 2013 when he and Spike Lee inducted Public Enemy. At 95, he is the oldest living person to be inducted into the Rock Hall. Hopefully he will attend to accept the honor.

• Elizabeth Cotten:
  Inductor? TBD
  Deceased inductees in the special categories don't often get full segments at the induction ceremony, so we'll see how they handle this one.

• Allen Grubman:
  Attending? Likely
  Inductor? John Mellencamp (11/3 Update)
  Look for some industry star power to induct the Hall of Fame's first lawyer.

• Jimmy Iovine:
  Attending? Likely
  Inductor? Bruce Springsteen (11/3/Update)
  Like Grubman, expect a big star to induct Iovine.

• Sylvia Robinson:
  Inductor? TBD
  

Looking at the wide array of 246 performer inductees and comparing it to the long list of those who aren't in, it's possible to draw some general conclusions about what it takes to get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Hall doesn't list any official criteria, but the three primary traits of performer inductees tend to fall into these broad categories:

• Popularity
• Critical Acclaim
• Industry Connections

History has shown that artists who do well in at least two out of the three categories have a solid chance at making the Hall of Fame, and those who check all three boxes likely get in on the first ballot. This is why having massive record sales and radio hits (aka "Popularity") on their own isn't typically enough to break through (e.g. Huey Lewis & the News, Styx, Backstreet Boys, etc.), while the same is true of Critically Acclaimed artists who never fully entered the mainstream (e.g. Can, Hüsker Dü, PJ Harvey). The Industry Connections category can take many shapes, such as having your record executive or manager on the Rock Hall Nominating Committee, but it can broadly be thought of as artists who often show up at awards shows or special events, and play the showbiz game (e.g. John Legend, Alicia Keys, Green Day, Gary Clark, Jr.). Having those industry relationships is often the missing piece of the puzzle that helps separate artists from their musical peers in the eyes of the Hall of Fame.

It should be noted here that there are dozens of artists who satisfy two or three of these categories that aren't in the Hall of Fame yet, but should be considered qualified.

It wasn't long ago that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was criticized for being self-centered and run by elitist critics when it would repeatedly nominate artists like Patti Smith or The Stooges while ignoring (or outright disparaging) populist artists like KISS or Chicago. While there was unquestionably an element of truth to that reputation, the overall list of inductees was fairly balanced between popular and critical favorites.

Over the last decade, there has been a noticeable shift in the Rock Hall's stance towards critically maligned but popular artists, as more and more famous snubs finally broke through with a nomination and then were quickly inducted.

Continuing that trend, take a look at the performers nominated in 2022 and how they best fit in the diagram above (bold artists were inducted):

• C/P/I (1st Ballot): Eminem
• P/I: Lionel Richie, Eurythmics, Carly Simon, Dolly Parton*, Duran Duran
• I/C: Beck
• C/P: A Tribe Called Quest, Judas Priest, Rage Against the Machine
• P only: Pat Benatar, Dionne Warwick
• C only: Devo, Kate Bush, Fela Kuti, MC5, New York Dolls

* - Dolly is critically acclaimed in Country music circles, but generally not considered by the Pop/Rock critics, which are relevant here.

The only common denominator among the winners is Popularity. When evaluating such a musically diverse ballot, voters heavily gravitated towards the most iconic names, most of whom are deeply entrenched in the music industry. Any artist without household name recognition, a significant Billboard chart presence, or couldn't plausibly appear at the American Music Awards were passed over again.

To be fair, the Nominating Committee has tried to create well-balanced ballots, but it has become incredibly predictable to see that the Voting Committee now favors shiny stars over influential pioneers. The Rock Hall's "solution" to this problem is to use their special categories to induct handpick a few artists who can't get past the voters (like Judas Priest, Kraftwerk and LL Cool J), rather than addressing the systemic deficiencies in their ballot construction or voter demographics.

While some may see lack of balance unsettling, those in charge at the Rock Hall and HBO (its induction ceremony broadcast partner) almost certainly see this populist direction as a feature rather than a bug (especially with their new interest in the superstars of Country to choose from). Now that the precedent has been set for the amount of star power expected on stage at induction ceremonies, there's no turning back now.

The day the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees were officially announced, Nominating Committee member Amy Linden revealed on her podcast the final ballot standings of the Performers:

1. Eurythmics
2. Eminem
3. Pat Benatar
4. Duran Duran
5. Lionel Richie
6. Carly Simon
7. Dolly Parton**

On her ImmaLetYouFinish podcast yesterday, Nominating Committee member Amy Linden revealed the final vote standings of this year’s Rock Hall class:
1. Eurythmics
2. Eminem
3. Pat Benatar
4. Duran Duran
5. Lionel Richie
6. Carly Simon
7. Dolly Parton#RockHall2022 pic.twitter.com/WYohIgTbf8

— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklgnds) May 5, 2022

It's unheard of for this type of information about the Rock Hall voting results to be shared publicly, although it is the norm with other Halls of Fame. In addition to the public Ballot Tracker, it's another data point that upends many of the assumptions about who the voters actually support.

With the announcement of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2022 inductees, the institution has signaled once again that they are determined to make progress in reducing its lengthy backlog using large induction classes and liberal use of their special categories.

Performers

Among the Rock Hall's first 16 induction classes, 12 included seven or more performer inductees, but have only been that large three times since (2004, 2019, and 2022). The reduction of class sizes led to an ever-increasing backlog of artists who started becoming eligible based on their work in the late 70s, 80s, and now 90s, as the Hall worked its way through missing artists from the 60s and early 70s. Had the Rock Hall maintained larger classes, they would have been better able to keep up with the never-ending tide of qualified artists who become eligible every year.

This year's seven performers is a positive sign that they recognize the issue and are willing to increase the number of inductees (despite the protestations of the Induction Ceremony producers).

Dolly Parton's landmark induction as a country artist in the Performer category makes good on Rock Hall chairman John Sykes's promise last year that "all genres are welcome." Her induction now sets the stage for many other country icons that arguably should be honored, which as Dolly feared, will inevitably keep artists from the Rock Hall's core genres waiting longer, or left out altogether.

Special Categories

After LL Cool J jumped from the performer ballot to a broadened Musical Excellence category induction, it was clear that the Rock Hall nominators (and their subcommittees) were frustrated enough by the results from the voters that they felt they had to take matters into their own hands to clear the lane of significant, but unelectable artists. The side effect of inducting LL Cool J last year was likely a nomination for A Tribe Called Quest this year, an artist who had been eligible for years but hadn't had an opportunity because the Nominating Committee had dug in its heels trying to get LL in first. Likewise, the Nominating Committee's hands have been tied regarding hard rock and metal artists when a genre-defining band like Judas Priest was still on the outside. After three chances on the ballot, the Rock Hall decided the voters were probably never going to induct them, so they shifted them to Musical Excellence. We'll see the impact of this next year where Iron Maiden seems like the inevitable next in line, but after that things can get more interesting.

Why are some artists getting shuffled off the performer ballot and not others? LL Cool J, Judas Priest, and Kraftwerk (who went in via the Early Influence category) were all pioneers of their genres, whereas other multiple-nominated artists such as Chaka Khan, MC5, and Rage Against the Machine might have less clearcut cases (or the Hall just hasn't gotten to them yet? or perhaps they do better with the voters?). Needless to say, the category has very little boundaries and it's best not to attempt to define it with any consistent rules. Without knowing who is on the Special Category subcommittees (the Rock Hall won't say), it's very difficult to predict who they will favor year-to-year. There are so many better ways the Rock Hall could handle this problem, but they have chosen to take this particular brute force approach instead.

The last two years have provided evidence of a trend that the Rock Hall has a renewed interest in honoring significant pre-rock era artists like Charley Patton and Elizabeth Cotten. These types of inductions are always widely praised and do the Museum-side of the Rock Hall a service by helping them tell additional stories of the roots of rock and roll. Keep them coming.

The Non-Performer category inductions are notable this year for finally honoring a woman music executive in Sylvia Robinson. The Rock Hall still has a lot of work catch up work do in this area, but this was a terrific start.

With the selection of Allen Grubman, the Rock Hall is honoring their first lawyer (and hopefully last), but as one of the founders of the institution itself, Grubman gets a rightful pass.

The Induction Ceremony

The 2021 Induction Ceremony ran overtime (causing the cancellation of the all-star jam) when faced with the challenge of honoring 13 inductees, even though many of whom were either dead or didn't show up. Most of this year's 14 inductees are thankfully still around and active, and have all seemed grateful for the honor and would be expected to attend and/or perform. Producers will need to be even more creative just to keep the induction ceremony under five hours given the potential number of speeches and performances.

As expected, John Sykes moved the induction ceremony back to Los Angeles for the first time since 2013. The question remains whether or not it will come back to Cleveland as promised in 2023, or if the Hall will instead switch to a regular three year rotation including New York. Rock Hall Museum CEO Greg Harris told SiriusXM today that a set cadence hadn't been determined yet.

With a loaded Rock Hall class, Induction Ceremony ticket demand should be high, so it was unfortunate to see the Hall of Fame take the event out of NBA arenas and move it to a 7,100 seat theater (with a huge chunk of those set aside for VIPs). Due to the limited capacity, fans should expect to pay a premium if they want to see the ceremony in person, although the smaller venue will hopefully make for a better experience.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2022 Inductees were announced at 8am ET on Wednesday, May 4th. The induction ceremony will be held on Nov. 5, 2022 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will officially announce the members of its 2022 induction class on May 4th. Future Rock Legends predicts the inductees in the Performer category will be:

1. Eminem: Assuming Eminem gets inducted this year, that will make five first-ballot hip hop artists in the last 10 years (Public Enemy, 2Pac, Biggie, Jay-Z, Eminem), compared to four first-ballot rock bands (Nirvana, Green Day, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters). The tide has shifted.
2. Duran Duran: This year's runaway Fan Vote winners should get in right away after waiting 15 years for the Rock Hall to give them an opportunity on the ballot.
3. Pat Benatar: After missing out in 2020, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo are back on the ballot and out on tour this summer. A Rock Hall induction should help sell a few more tickets.
4. Judas Priest: In recent years, a number of artists have been inducted in the third year on the ballot, including Todd Rundgren, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, The Cars, and Janet Jackson. Judas Priest is hoping that voters looking for rock artists on the ballot will gravitate towards them on their third nomination.
5. Dionne Warwick: In 2021, Warwick was nominated for the first time on a ballot stacked with artists who were already Hall of Famers like Tina Turner, Carole King, and Dave Grohl. With the uncertainty around Dolly Parton's status, this year's path is significantly clearer.
6. Lionel Richie: It's pretty well established at this point that the Rock Hall likes to have big recognizable names at their induction ceremonies, whether it is the inductees or the presenters. Richie is one of a handful of icons who the Rock Hall has missed, but seems intent on correcting. (Look for names like Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, Gloria Estefan, and Cher to be next in line).
7. Dolly Parton: Speaking of icons, the whole kerfuffle around her nomination will be a minor footnote by the time the inductees get honored in Los Angeles in November. The Rock Hall won't pass up a chance to get Dolly on stage while they have the chance.

Additional Notes:

• The last time there were seven performer inductees was 2019. Seems warranted again this year.
• Check out our public Ballot Tracker to get a glimpse at the ballots of over 40 voters.
• Even with endless possibilities in the Special Categories, look for the reasonably predictable inductions of Chaka Khan in Musical Excellence (seven nominations is enough) and the MC5 in Early Influence (as a parting gift to MC5-champion Jon Landau, who is expected to be stepping down as chairman of the Nominating Committee soon).
• A couple hours after the Fan Vote opened, the five artists at the top of the standings were Duran Duran (3rd), Eminem (5th), Pat Benatar (1st), Eurythmics (4th), and Dolly Parton (2nd). Nearly three months and five million more votes later, the same artists were still in the top five, just in a different order. So much wasted time and energy (not to mention creating animosity between rival fanbases).
• For other perspectives and predictions for the class of 2022, look through our Twitter page where you will find retweets of other Rock Hall experts.

For fifteen years we have been conducting an unofficial poll on this site which requires voters to select five artists on their ballot. The results (after 1538 ballots):

1. Duran Duran 67% (they appeared on 67% of the ballots)
2. Pat Benatar 58%
3. Judas Priest 51%
4. Eurythmics 42%
5. Carly Simon 39%
6. Dolly Parton 38%
7. Eminem 37%
8. Lionel Richie 30%
9. Rage Against the Machine 23%
10. Beck 22%
11. Kate Bush 19%
12. Dionne Warwick 19%
13. Devo 17%
14. A Tribe Called Quest 14%
15. New York Dolls 9%
16. MC5 9%
17. Fela Kuti 5%

On the morning that the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ballots were due, Dolly Parton was finally asked what she would do if she was inducted, after she had previously asked to be removed from contention (but denied by the Hall of Fame).

Well, I’ll accept gracefully. I will just say thanks and I will accept it because the fans vote, but when I said that, it was always my belief that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was for the people in rock music. And I have found out lately that it’s not necessarily that. But if they can’t go there to be recognized, where do they go?

So I just felt like that I would be taking away from someone that maybe deserved it - certainly more than me because I never considered myself a rock artist. But obviously there’s more to it than that.

The timing of Dolly's two statements has been awful. The initial request to be removed from contention came six weeks after the nominees were announced, and three weeks after voters had a chance to fill out and return their ballots. Subsequently, many voters have honored her request to be removed from consideration and cast their ballots towards other artists, perhaps assuming she wouldn't accept the award or attend the induction ceremony. Her latest statement, which clarifies her feelings towards the honor, comes after nearly all ballots have already been cast and counted, and leaves many voters wondering if they should have voted for her anyway.

When the nominees were originally announced in early February, Dolly Parton was assumed to be a heavy favorite for induction. But with the ensuing uncertainty around her nomination, it's now less clear whether she has received the votes to get in.

The class of 2022 inductees should be announced this week.

BREAKING: A month after asking to be removed from the ballot, Dolly Parton now says if she is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame she will “accept gracefully.” @MorningEdition #RockHall2022 pic.twitter.com/7syDdg6TBo

— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklgnds) April 29, 2022

Unlike most of its peer institutions, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has never been very open about the rules and procedures used to nominate and induct artists. They won't reveal who is on the Nominating or Voting Committees, what the final tallies are, or even innocuous information such as how many votes are actually cast. It's left to outsiders to piece together the puzzle and trust the Rock Hall is actually running their induction process with some integrity.

Two years ago, Rock Hall CEO Greg Harris said in an interview that the fan votes "form two composite ballots that get tallied with the total." This was the first time there has been any reference to the fan vote counting anything more than a single ballot, and it was never clarified.

Here’s a long interview with Rock Hall Museum President Greg Harris where he addresses the issue of the number of women in the Hall of Fame. He also says that the Fan Vote is worth two ballots, which is contrary to what the Hall’s official line is. https://t.co/z5t7CnQ7bW pic.twitter.com/ZJ3G2OjKMI

— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklgnds) February 9, 2020

On the most recent episode of the Who Cares About the Rock Hall? podcast, Rock Hall board member Alec Wightman was interviewed by hosts Joe Kwaczala and Kristen Studard. Wightman is in a unique position where he sits on the Boards of both the Rock Hall Foundation (in New York) and also the Rock Hall Museum (in Cleveland):

Joe: And you have a ballot…

Wightman: I do have a ballot. I have a ballot because of my membership on the Foundation Board, at least I think that's why I have a ballot.

Joe: Are we to assume that everybody on the Board has a ballot? I would imagine so.

Wightman: I'm sure everyone on the Foundation Board has a ballot.

Kristen: So everyone on the Foundation Board would have a ballot, but everyone on the Museum Board would not necessarily?

Wightman: Well, they would not in the ordinary course. Now having said that, a little bit like the Fan Vote, everybody on the Cleveland Board has an opportunity…

Kristen: To share one ballot?

Wightman: Yes [laughter]

Kristen: This is insane.

Wightman: So it's fun. Everybody gets a vote and the folks in Cleveland make sure we get updates from time to time about how our group is voting. It counts as one ballot towards the induction.

Kristen: That is way more weighted than the Fan Vote ballot, but that's still a raw deal.

Joe: Yeah, I think so too. I'd say let everybody on the Museum Board have a vote as well.

Needless to say, this rule about a second aggregated ballot isn't listed anywhere on the Rock Hall's website or openly discussed. The only hint prior to this explanation was Greg Harris's quote about the Fan Vote being worth two ballots.

There are roughly 86 members on the Museum's Board of Trustees that would get folded into a single ballot, as opposed to the five million fan votes that make up the other.

Here is the list of Rock Hall Board members as of 2019:

Three days after Dolly Parton stated she wanted out of the induction process this year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame responded with their own statement denying her request.

Earlier this morning, before the Rock Hall's response, Dolly Parton elaborated about being considered "rock and roll" in an interview on Fox & Friends:

Dolly Parton on Fox & Friends this morning about her request to be removed from the Rock Hall ballot: “I still didn’t feel right about it. It would kind of be like putting AC/DC in the Country Music Hall of Fame. It just felt a little out of place for me.” #RockHall2022 pic.twitter.com/qb6U82nmFi

— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklgnds) March 17, 2022

Dolly's understandable misperception about the genres the Rock Hall honors is widely held among many people who are casual observers of the institution. Even those who follow the Rock Hall closely may have been surprised to see a superstar country artist on the "Performer" ballot, since up until this year, the Hall of Fame had never nominated most of the greatest country artists of all-time such as Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, George Jones, The Carter Family, Waylon Jennings, Garth Brooks, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and many others. With most of those country legends having been eligible for decades, and a massive backlog of artists in genres they already try to celebrate, there was little indication that the Rock Hall would turn to Nashville when looking for icons to honor.

Assuming voters understand Dolly Parton is still very much on the ballot, she remains one of the biggest favorites for induction this year, and 2022 will mark a new era for Country artists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Click here to access the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ballot Tracker

Today, in a stunning move, Dolly Parton posted the above statement on social media that she wants to "respectfully bow out" as a 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee. Parton was a heavy favorite to be inducted this year, but now her Rock Hall fate is uncertain.

Asked for comment by multiple media outlets, the Rock Hall has yet to publicly respond to Parton's request, but it would seem they have three choices:

• Option 1: Just ignore it. Nominees were announced over a month ago, and some ballots have already been filled out and returned. The Rock Hall could continue with the process it started and if Parton gets enough votes, move ahead an induction and hope she changes her tune, but if not, treat her induction like 2021 absentee Hall of Famer Todd Rundgren.
• Option 2: Publicly and officially remove her from the ballot. The Rock Hall would need to remove her name from consideration this year, instruct the Voting Committee that she is no longer eligible, and give voters who already turned in their ballots a chance to change their votes.
• Option 3: Privately remove her from the ballot. The Rock Hall can continue with the induction process as-is, but behind the scenes throw out any votes that she has already received and hope her statement is enough to discourage anyone else from voting for her.

So which direction will the Rock Hall take? Option 1 is what the Rock Hall usually does when nominees or inductees disparage the institution, but in this case, the Rock Hall will likely want to hold out hope that they can induct a fully cooperative Dolly in the future, so pushing ahead seems unlikely. Option 2 requires them to do a lot of extra work to revise the ballot and notify voters with new instructions. It also sets a precedent that would give artists agency over their Rock Hall nominations. Option 3 seems the most likely scenario. The Rock Hall never publishes their voting rules, so it's easy enough for them to rewrite them to accommodate unprecedented issues like this.

See also the Sex Pistols' "piss stain" letter and Axl Rose's open letter declining his 2012 induction.

In other 2022 nominee news, this weekend Dionne Warwick was on Andy Cohen's show and was asked if she "gives a damn" about getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Warwick responded, "No, I don't. I'm not a rock and roller. I've been interviewed on this subject many times. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as I grew to know it many years ago was specifically for 'rock and roll' acts… I feel now, especially with Dolly Parton being nominated, which I'm thrilled for her about, they should rename the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to the Music Hall of Fame."

For years, some vocal fans and Rock Hall critics have been pushing back against the Hall of Fame's broad definition of "rock and roll," and now even some nominees appear to be uncomfortable being assigned that label.

The day the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ballot was announced, Nominating Committee member Alan Light appeared on SiriusXM to explain some of the thinking that went into the choices.

One of the more controversial nominees this year was Lionel Richie as a solo artist instead of Richie's previous group The Commodores. Alan Light explained the dilemma:

"We have kicked around in previous meetings, is it the Commodores, is it Lionel… What’s the right way to handle this? Maybe they’re more the funk band, does Lionel encompass that piece of his history, does that tell that story?

"I was thinking about Lionel.. There’s always that slot at Bonnaroo for the legacy headliner artist. They had McCartney, they had Elton, they had Billy Joel… and Lionel Richie was that slot one year. And I think he may be the only one in that slot that isn’t in the Rock Hall. And when you line him up.. Are you going to argue he’s on the level with Etlon and Billy, well when you put him in front of a crowd like that, it kind of feels like he’s in that altitude. He’s in that game. He’s got that sort of catalog, he’s got those sort of hits. People love him that much."

SIriusXM host Nik Carter also made a strong case for why The Commodores should be in. Alan Light responded:

"This is me speaking, not on the behalf of the committee. The icon of Lionel Richie has outstripped the status of the Commodores. That he is at that level of a familiar, and a celebrated, and a beloved name…I just think he jumped ahead on the line. I will certainly say that he’s got a better shot on the ballot than the Commodores would with the voting body.

"But if you’ve got to place your bets, you’re not putting them both on the ballot, you’ve got to put one on the ballot. I just think between American Idol host, writing “We are the World,” and all of the touchstones, he headlines at Bonnaroo, he’s that sort of a figure. I think it made an impact on people last year seeing the way people responded to Lionel when we saw him at the induction, he inducted Clarence Avant last year, and seeing the way the room and the other artists responded to Lionel Richie left an impact on those of us who were thinking of this stuff.

"You’re putting your chips somewhere, I just think if you’re advocating for him, if you’re advocating for that catalog, I think it’s a lot better shot with his name on that ballot in front of the whole voting body than the Commodores name would be."

Light had also mentioned he was not good at predicting who the voting body favors, but he obviously feels confident about the Nominating Committee's choice. While a Lionel Richie solo induction doesn't technically remove The Commodores from consideration, as we have seen with the Nile Rodgers / Chic situation, it seems likely their future induction chances would drop to almost zero.

Light also addressed the induction chances of the MC5 (6th nomination) and the New York Dolls (3rd nomination):

"It scares me to see the MC5 and the New York Dolls on the ballot. It scares me a little bit to see Duran Duran and Eurythmics on the ballot. Because when you have bands that are seen in a similar sort of lane [that can split votes]."

…

"The Hall of Fame continues to grow the voting body, bring other people into vote, younger people in, diverse voting body and everything else, but the biggest chunk of voters now who get this ballot and have to vote on this ballot are people in the Hall of Fame. People like the surviving members of Little Anthony & the Imperials, they’re like the 28 guys in Chicago, you know, there’s a lot of people getting this ballot, and no disrespect to people who are legendary artists, but who may not really know who the hell the New York Dolls and the MC5 are. And that’s a hurdle to get over. That is a challenge."

Alan Light on the expanded use of the special categories in 2021:

"The Hall was obviously more active, more aggressive in the non-ballot inductions last year. Putting in so many through the Early Influence and Musical Excellence and everybody seemed totally fine. LL went in as a Musical Excellence winner and gave the performance of the night, that’s what everybody walked away talking about and no one was like, “oh, but he didn’t really get in that way, he got in this way.” It was kind of liberating for the Hall to see, maybe we’ve got a freer hand to be able to, with people that have been nominated a bunch but don’t get in but we really think deserve it, to people that are a little more left of center or out of mainstream or whatever it is, I think we’re going to see more people going in through those doors than we have in years past. And I think that’s great, I think it worked great last year and we got a lot of worthy people in. And I wouldn’t be surprised if with some of these acts, like the [New York] Dolls, that ultimately is what ends up happening. I don’t know that that’s going to happen this year, but that wouldn’t surprise me."

Asked which two artists he put on the table at the meeting, Alan Light said he nominated Eminem and Mary J. Blige. On the question of why Eminem and not OutKast, Light responded:

"This was going to be the year that I was going to stand up and bang hard for OutKast, but on the one hand it’s obvious, but Eminem is a force that we cannot underestimate. The guy was the biggest selling artist from 2000-2010 in the world, and the third biggest selling artist between 2010-2020. That is a dominance that is a generational sort of impact. And 16 Grammys, and winning the Oscar for Lose Yourself, the impact across so many not just the rap audience but a rock audience. I said OutKast has got to wait because I don’t want to put those two, again I’m afraid of a split vote. I think it’s too much to say people would vote for OutKast and Eminem as two of their five. I’m still fighting for hip hop. I want to take the wins where I can get them. Like Eminem’s a win. Let’s do that and get him and double back. Because I want to continue to put in the deserving bodies where I see an opportunity to do that."

Two years ago, Light named Carol Kaye as the biggest Rock Hall snub. But despite the expanded use of the special categories, she's still on the outside. Inductees in the special categories should be announced with the performer winners in May.

I keep seeing this in 1 Em fan group on facebook. So, I tried 1 and it worked, email is already registered. Tried another 4, all worked. Maybe this is one of the reasons why we're being outvoted. pic.twitter.com/CGGofijUxA

— Marshall Matters (@M_Slizzle) February 23, 2022

On Twitter, the Rock Hall clarified the rules in a series of tweets:

Voting is capped at one ballot per day. We believe in our voting process, and appreciate that the fans need to believe it in, too. Therefore 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.

We asked if they considered the use of email extensions to be the same email address:

Yes, voting is capped at one ballot per day per email address. We do consider “+” and “.” extensions to be the same email address. We've also added parameter language to our 2022 Nominee page: rockhall.com/2022-nominees

We asked if those types of emails have been voided since the beginning, or if this is a new policy in response to voting anomalies:

Every Induction cycle bring a new “challenge” in terms of voting anomalies. As soon as we identify a new issue, we take immediate steps to void and prevent votes that are inconsistent with our voting parameters. We love that our fans are passionate about their favorite artists, and we truly want to keep the Fan Vote fun and fair.

Here are the brief voting rules from their site:

Duran Duran, Eminem, Pat Benatar, Dolly Parton, and Eurythmics are currently the top five artists in the Fan Vote. Even with eight weeks to go those artists will more than likely be the final top five, and each receive one additional vote.

Click here to access the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ballot Tracker

If you follow the annual Baseball Hall of Fame inductions even a little bit, you are probably aware of the public Vote Tracker, started in 2013 by Ryan Thibodaux. The tracker collects all ballots that are shared publicly (or anonymously sent) and records them in a spreadsheet that anyone can access. The Vote Tracker has not only been invaluable in predicting who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but has elevated the discourse among the fans who really care about who gets honored in Cooperstown.

That leads us to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, an institution that could benefit from more transparency in its process. Each year, Rock Hall voters are faced with a ballot that is stacked top-to-bottom with worthy artists, but are required to select no more than five names. Voters assume that their peers will likely be supporting superstar Artist X, so instead throw a choice to niche-genre Artist Y, who theoretically needs the support more. The Fan Vote results can become the only data point a voter has to reference, which is not a fair representation of voter sentiment or Hall of Fame worthiness. It turns the process into a strategic guessing game, but one with gigantic stakes.

As a way to help voters with this task, we're introducing the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ballot Tracker, where we will track any ballots that get shared in a public forum (Twitter, Instagram, blogs, podcasts, etc). We're also offering voters the chance to participate anonymously by emailing a photo of their official ballots to futurerocklegends [at] gmail.com so it can tracked in the totals without the public exposure. The current Rock Hall Fan Vote leaders will of course also be recorded as a ballot.

There will be some understandable trepidation among voters about sharing their choices, but they should take comfort that many music writers have been posting their ballots online for years. (One of the benefits of these stacked ballots is that literally any combination of five artists is easily defensible.) To manage expectations, we don't believe this will be a meaningful sample size to predict the will of 1000+ voters, but let's have some fun and give it a try this year. We're grateful for anyone willing to help!

Click here to access the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ballot Tracker

Special thanks to @NotMrTibbs and the Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot Tracker team for the inspiration!

Every year when the nominees are announced, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame focuses a huge amount of the attention it receives, not on the careers and music of the nominated artists, but on its website's "Fan Vote." There's a coordinated effort from the Rock Hall to include it in press releases, have the nominated artists promote it on social media, and the Rock Hall's representatives are sure to bring it up in every interview they give about the ballot. On their website, the first thing you see on their homepage is a large red button that says "VOTE NOW." In fact, the only way to find out who is nominated from RockHall.com is to click through to the Fan Poll.

With all of the attention placed on fans casting their votes, a casual observer would reasonably assume that the poll carries significant weight in the results. In reality, the top five vote getters get added to a single ballot that is submitted with the other 1000+ ballots from the Voting Committee. So the maximum weight of the millions of fan votes is somewhere around 0.1% of the total.

Can that single ballot make a difference between getting inducted or not? In theory, yes. But as the Rock Hall's president Joel Peresman has said many times before, the number of inductees is variable each year, so if the 5th and 6th or 6th and 7th artists are close together, they just induct them both. It's safe to say that if two artists are only one vote apart, they will either both will be inducted, or both be left out. The Rock Hall doesn't use an independent accounting firm to count the votes, and never reveals totals, so there is no way to know the final margins.

There's clearly an asymmetrical relationship between the attention placed on the "Fan Vote" and the impact it has in the results. Since the fan poll started with the 2013 ballot, 54% of artists finishing in the top five get inducted. That correlation has led some to assume that a first place finish guarantees induction, but as we saw in 2020 with the Dave Matthews Band, that isn't the case. That leaves fans disheartened after expending a lot of time into voting daily for up to three months. Last year, the fan vote captured the attention of Nigerians who were excited to see Fela Kuti nominated for the Rock Hall. They organized online and rallied Fela to the top of the poll, before Tina Turner eventually overtook him for first place. When Fela wasn't inducted, fans (and Fela's family members) were dismayed to learn that all of that voting had minimal impact on the results. Feeling burned, Fela fans have not returned to vote this year. He's currently in last place.

The reasons the Rock Hall places so much emphasis on the poll are fairly obvious:

• It brings fans to RockHall.com
• It collects email addresses for marketing purposes (required to vote)
• It provides fans a way to feel like they have some say in the process
• It promotes the Hall of Fame through social media

Rock Hall representatives (like Nominating Committee member Alan Light) have defended the fan poll by suggesting that its impact extends far beyond a single ballot because actual voters look at the results and give additional consideration to fan favorites. But as we have heard over and over from actual voters, because they are limited to selecting five artists, they are forced to vote strategically for artists who they suspect need the most support. By looking at the fan poll, they may assume that those at the top won't need their help, so they cast their votes in a different direction. Whether this happens in practice or not, it is disingenuous for the Rock Hall to emphatically state that the Fan Vote has a beneficial effect beyond the single ballot.

What should the Rock Hall do with the Fan Vote? Here are some ideas:

1. Shorten the duration of the vote to one week. As we have documented over the last nine polls, the top five get locked in after a week and there is no significant change in the results after that. Just once, in 2014, was there a lead change between fifth and sixth towards the end of the poll, and both artists got in anyway. Why the Rock Hall extended the poll from two months to three months last year is inexplicable. They are simply taking advantage of fans' time because they are willing to do whatever they can for their favorite artists.
2. Only permit fans to vote a single time per email address. Why allow fans to vote every day? The fan vote should measure fans' assessment of the artists Hall of Fame worthiness, not fanbase intensity and commitment to gaming the results.
3. Relatedly, fans should be required to vote for five artists. Fans are incentivized to only vote for the single artist they want inducted, and they often do.
4. Allow fans to opt out of Rock Hall marketing emails when registering to vote. It's just the courteous thing to do.
5. Be as clear as possible up front about how much the vote is actually worth (now you have to vote first and then read the fine print).
6. Dial down the emphasis placed on the Fan Vote to make it more in line with its actual importance. Shortening the duration would go a long way to helping, and then the incredible careers of the nominees can rightfully take center stage.

Since the fan poll is only worth a single ballot, many people suggest making it worth much more, to allow fans to have a real impact on the results. Some suggest automatic induction for the Fan Vote winner, or increasing the weight of the Fan Vote up to 10% of all votes. There are significant reasons not to do this:

• The Rock Hall's Fan Vote has a history of being susceptible to bots and voting irregularities. The 2015, 2016, and 2017 polls all had serious issues that put the results into question. The Hall of Fame accepted the results anyway.
• If the fan vote winner is automatically inducted, how would that artist feel about it? Sure, there would be validation from the fans, but the reason the Hall of Fame is special is because inductees are chosen in part by other Hall of Famers. Being accepted and included into the Hall of Fame by your own heroes is the kind career affirmation that you can't get anywhere else. Think about how it would feel to find out that Joni Mitchell, Chuck D, Paul McCartney, or Stevie Wonder voted for you to be in the Hall of Fame versus the feeling of winning a silly online fan poll.
• The Fan Vote has been especially biased against Black artists, who routinely show up towards the bottom of the ballot. Even a first ballot Hall of Famer like Jay-Z finished last. Other than the MC5, minority artists have finished last in the voting every year. Giving a flawed poll even more weight would not be a good thing (and yes, the actual Rock Hall voters have their own biases, but that's not an excuse to make things worse).
• Fan-selected awards are generally not as prestigious as peer-selected ones. Getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is career-defining honor. It shouldn't reduce itself to a People's Choice Award since there are plenty of other measures of fan validation — record sales, touring revenue, chart success, song streams — the Rock Hall shouldn't be one of them.
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The 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees were announced at 8am EST on February 2nd. Inductees will be revealed in May, and will be honored at a ceremony in Los Angeles "later this year."

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