The fervor of Phish‘s fandom is rarely in doubt, and it was proven yet again as the band came out ahead in the final results of the fan vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame‘s class of 2025.
The band landed a first-place finish with 330,000 votes registered by fans. In second place was Bad Company, with 281,000 votes, followed by Billy Idol, in third with 260,500.
Cyndi Lauper came in fourth with 237,000, and Joe Cocker was the fifth-place finisher, landing 234,000 votes from fans, ahead of sixth-place Soundgarden, who brought in 233,000.
Chubby Chucker was the only other nominee to get more than 200K fan votes, with 203,000. The Black Crowes’ 165,200 votes was good enough for eighth place, followed by Mariah Carey in ninth with 138,000.
Also registering fan support were Joy Division + New Order (120,500), the White Stripes (110,500) and Outkast (108,000).
Among the 14 nominees, only two came in with fewer than 100,000 votes — Oasis, whose 99,500 votes may indicate that not all of the fans selling out their reunion shows have a deeply sentimental attachment to the band members’ irascible personalities; and the Latin rock band Mana, which has always been the dark horse in this race, bringing up the rear with 34,500 votes.
Does this mean Phish is a shoo-in to be named as an inductee when the class of 2025 is officially announced this coming Sunday night? Not at all. The fan vote is really more of a ceremonial opportunity for the hoi polloi to feel like they’re participating than something that has much of an impact on the final results. As the Rock Hall always explains in the fine print, the results of the fan vote are exactly equal to one ballot, in total — that tally counting no more or less than the 1,200 votes cast by industry insiders who participate in the election by invitation only.
History is on the side of the winner of the fan vote also being selected by the industry voters. Only in 2020 has the fans’ top choice not gotten in, when the Dave Matthews Band handily won among fans with more than a million votes but still didn’t get inducted. (The DMB did get in four years later, however.)
But Phish has been seen as a long shot that may be more popular with the masses than the industry types who vote for the Rock Hall. The prognostication site Gold Derby has put up its predictions naming the seven likeliest inductees, and Phish was not among the top seven picks. So whether there will once again be a DMB-style split between fans and the Hall’s invited voters, or a happy alignment, remains to be seen.
Of course, the fan vote is hardly scientific polling, and is heavily dependent on cultish devotees with social megaphones whipping up online voter turnout … so Mariah Carey can probably rest easy that she has not been eclipsed in overall popularity by Bad Company or Chubby Checker. But for some of the artists who might be considered underdogs, finishing in the upper ranks may linger as sweet vindication if it turns out the final result goes a different way.
Final results:
Phish: 330,000
Bad Company: 281,000
Billy Idol: 260,500
Cyndi Lauper: 237,000
Joe Cocker: 234,000
Soundgarden: 233,000
Chubby Checker: 203,000
The Black Crowes: 165,200
Mariah Carey: 138,000
Joy Division + New Order: 120,500
The White Stripes: 110,500
Outkast: 108,000
Oasis: 99,500
Mana: 34,500
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