In essence, fan voting for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees is relatively meaningless. Once all the votes are cast, they are collected into one ballot and then pooled with about 1,200 other ballots from music historians, musical acts, and music industry types. Still, the fan vote might be telling.
In 2024, all of the top five musical artists in the fan vote also were inducted into the Rock Hall. The list included the Dave Matthews Band (who led the vote with 586,745), Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Cher, and Ozzy Osbourne. Were all of them truly worthy? Foreigner might be the most debatable when other acts of the same ilk, such as Styx and REO Speedwagon, have not sniffed a real chance at induction.
So far in 2025, through a little over a week of voting, Phish is the leader by a wide margin, with Billy Idol a distant second. If you are a fan of the White Stripes or Maná, good luck. Those bands are pulling up the reader with Maná being well behind everyone else and in last place. The problem is that the White Strips should have a better argument for induction than Phish.
Phish has no business leading the fan vote for the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction process
And, no. This is not a hate-filled article about Trey Anastasio and his mates. They are a fine band and definitely give fans their money's worth at concerts by playing seemingly endlessly. But why should they be immortalized in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Musical artists, in theory, should make the Hall if they are somehow transformative, and not merely popular. Phish has an extremely devoted fanbase, but that has not translated into much chart success. Name two songs by the band. If you were able to do that, you are most likely a fan of the group.
Plus, Phish has virtually no presence on the global stage. They are a United States phenomenon, much in the same way the Tragically Hip was a Canadian one. Is that fair to either band? No, but the facts remain the same.
Therein lies the real issue with Phish being the leader in the fan vote and having any chance at induction. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should represent musical acts from anywhere on the globe that are worthy of being immortalized. If someone names a group in the Rock Hall while speaking to someone in Austria, for instance, the Austrian's response should not be, "Who?"
Fan voting for the 2025 nominees runs through April 21.