The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame made a lot of great choices in 2026. Long-deserving bands of induction, such as Iron Maiden and Joy Division + New Order, were selected to be enshrined. Really, the only thing wrong with the ballot process was, well...the fans.
For the second straight year, and third year since 2020, the winner of the fan vote wasn't chosen for induction. While the 2020 fan winner, the Dave Matthews Band, was eventually enshrined in 2024 (and worthy of being so), last year's winner (Phish) and this year's winner (New Edition) shouldn't ever be.
And to be clear, that isn't to say that Phish or New Edition haven't made good music. They certainly have, but not enough to be included in the Rock Hall, whose idea, as well as any other Hall of Fame, is to only induct the best of the best of the rock genre.
The only thing wrong with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame vote is the fans, sadly
The museum isn't called the R&B Hall of Fame or one related to country music. If a band like U2 were chosen to be in the country hall, something would be seriously wrong. The same goes for an artist like Ozzy Osbourne going into the R&B Hall of Fame.
Rock's flaw might be that it is all-encompassing, and it should be. Like the English language, rock incorporates other forms of the same type, and mixes them into something clear what it is. English uses Latin-origin languages and Germanic and many other languages to become what it has, just as Steely Dan gathered ideas from Miles Davis.
The difference between Miles Davis, who was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2006, and Phish and New Edition is that Davis was around at the beginning of rock music and helped influence those who came afterward. The same cannot be said of New Edition and Phish. They themselves are derivative of groups like the Temptations and the Grateful Dead, respectively.
Yet, fans keep voting for bands that have flaws for induction. Again, New Edition and Phish haven't made bad music, but neither have the Smiths, and they aren't in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame either.
Plus, it is too easy to artificially inflate voting online. This is one reason elections that matter more to humanity are not held in the same manner. Based on the most recent Rock Hall fan vote, had the 2024 presidential election been held in the same way, then Chase Oliver might have won.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has to keep up the fan vote, though, because it makes us all feel part of the process, and the voting is fun. Thankfully, people less emotionally involved, such as other musicians, record executives, and music historians, are also voting, and in 2026, they made the right choices.
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