New Edition won the Rock and Roll Hall of fame Fan Vote, but won’t be inducted.
The R&B group behind hits like Candy and Can You Stand the Rain dominated the fan ballot this year, earning more than one million votes.
Over the years, the winner of the fan vote has frequently earned a spot in the Hall, but not always. New Edition is the third act to win the fan ballot but fail to make the final cut, and the second in consecutive years, following Phish in 2025.
In an interview with Billboard last year, John Sykes, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s chairman, discussed the fan vote’s role in the nomination and induction process. He said the tallies are always shared with the nominating committee, but that there was a reason it wasn’t given more weight than any other ballot.
“It’s a great way to have the public weigh in, however, you may have an artist who doesn’t have a strong fan club or active group of supporters, and we don’t want the fan club being able to lobby their artist into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” he explained.
The fan vote does serve as a barometer or sorts, however. Past winners include Rush, Kiss and Tina Turner.
Last week, the Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man drew attention to the possibility of a contaminated fan vote, writing, “Although it’s very cool to be nominated for the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame, what isn’t cool are bots getting involved in the voting.
“It’s not fair to the nominees or the legit voters. With that being said, congrats to all the nominees and good luck!”
Method Man has since deleted the post, and the Wu-Tang Clan finished eighth in the fan vote. They will enter the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later this year.
