I’m going to keep trying to give Billy Joel a chance. He deserves it.
I couldn’t vote for Airplane as Queen is a no brainer and Paul Simon solo is too great.
In a weaker group I would’ve given Yardbirds a vote.
I don’t get the Steely Dan votes. Small impact and shortish productive career.
I hate that MJ is going to bump out a more deserving artist or group.
Amen to this. Michael Jackson absolutely deserves to get in as an artist, but I have real trouble voting for him as a person. I’d probably have to think harder if there weren’t several other qualified candidates, but it’s an easy call for this round.
Which leaves me struggling with four: Aerosmith, EW&F, Queen, and Paul Simon.
Aerosmith was the soundtrack for every stoner and on every 8-track player in the 70s. EW&F I already praised as a genre busting and crossing group. Queen needs no explanation. Paul Simon deserves it both for the quality of his songs, plus his trailblazing (along with Peter Gabriel) in incorporating African music into the mainstream.
I guess the stoners lose out this round.
Michael Jackson deserves it, but frankly I prefer the teenybopper Jackson 5 and I think enough people will vote for him that I’m going to abstain.
The Yardbirds are seminal and introduced the world to Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, so they get a vote. Earth, Wind and Fire likewise - massively influential.
I gave Steely Dan a qualified third. I think they’re low key more influential than What Exit does, not least in their dogged if impossible to achieve pursuit of studio production perfection. Also they were an undoubted influence on many a hipster douchebag 
! Their peak career also lasted about as long as The Yardbirds 
. So they get my idiosyncratic pick.
Aerosmith to me is about on the same level as bands like Bad Company or Foreigner. Perfectly fine 1970’s hard rock. Perfectly fine and nothing special. I’ve never understood the idolatry.
Queen I’d rate higher, but not that much higher. They’re borderline for me in a group this small. Jefferson Airplane borderline. Paul Simon isn’t Paul McCartney - taken in isolation you could argue his solo career stacks up to Simon and Garfunkel, it’s just less important historically. But I’m not voting for him to get in twice.
This week we congratulate Queen, The Yardbirds, and, I guess, Michael Jackson. Six other acts also qualify for the next ballot (For what it’s worth, Buffalo Springfield just missed the cut). This week, with the 2002 inductees, we start to edge into the punk/new wave era. Vote for the three most deserving.
I see what you did there…
I’m starting to find it harder to find selections I’m really excited about, but Tom Petty certainly deserves a spot so maybe I’ll just push him through while keeping Earth, Wind, and Fire and Jefferson Airplane on the ballot.
I don’t have a ton of context on the New Wave and Punk eras to know where the Ramones and Talking Heads rank in terms of influence. Maybe someone with more insight can help. I’m sure both probably belong in the “small hall”.
If Lou Reed was the ‘Godfather of Punk Rock’, the Ramones arguably have the strongest claim to being the actual biological father (though it was far more an amoebic asexual fissioning). That was particularly pronounced in the UK where they were a direct influence on bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash (who’s first classic album sounds a lot like the Ramones). But really everywhere. One of those deceptively simple-sounding bands that never sold a lot of records but toured mostly smaller venues constantly (they were to some degree the Grateful Dead of punk in that sense) and were cult stars that were extremely influential on punk and hard rock everywhere.
The Talking Heads came out of the exact same New York scene, but were more stereotypically associated with the artier side of New Wave along with bands like Television. They were eventually one of the two genuinely commercially successful bands to emerge from there (Blondie being the other) and were probably the most impactful in terms of influence, Ramones aside. Which is big, because the 1970’s New York New Wave scene Iooms very large indeed. I personally consider their fourth album Remain in Light to be one of the greatest rock albums of all time, though remarkably I’d have to give it second in 1980 to the Clash’s London Calling - both masterpieces IMHO. But all of their catalog is impressive. They’re one of those bands that put out subjectively weaker albums, but all of them are at least good (if you like that sort of thing).
If the Ramones don’t belong in the Hall of Fame, then NO Punk band does.
Rolling Stone recently published (updated?) their list of the top R&B groups of all time, with Earth, Wind & Fire in the #1 spot (they had a separate list for individual R&B artists last year).
Academy Award-winning director Questlove’s 2026 documentary Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World) says it all. Earth, Wind & Fire continues to shine as one of the most influential and successful bands in music history… The band’s innovative mélange of R&B, soul, funk, jazz, rock and world rhythms have kept its legion of fans mesmerized ever since while simultaneously luring next-gen fans over the last half century. In addition to the group’s top-notch musicianship, rich harmonies and Bailey’s soaring falsetto, EWF became just as popular for its dazzling showmanship, combining intricate choreography with elaborate stage productions, creating a unique immersive fan experience.
Hi rockers, I am traveling today so the next ballot will be delayed, sorry. Results are final, though.
Is the poll runner going to go back and add in other legacy acts at some future date, or will newer acts just replace the ones which are voted in? We are currently skipping a TON of viable bands, such as The Moody Blues and Yes.
The latest poll was with the 2002 inductees. Yes and The Moody Blues were inducted in 2017 and 2018, so I’d assume they are coming up in a few months.