John Sykes Pulls Back the Curtain on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Voting Process

“It is a secret ballot that goes around the room, but you do get a sense of who might get in based on the presentation made by the committee member,” Sykes says. “To me, it’s partially predictable but it’s always a surprise each year. That’s the beauty of the process. It is a democratic process that is very transparent. There’s no one who can get in through the back door.”

The 14 artists who get the most votes from the nominating committee become the nominees in the performer category. The “a little over” 1,200 voting members then choose the seven artists who actually get in.

“What I look at every year in the voting body is to make sure it reflects the evolving sound of rock’n’roll,” Sykes says. “The voting body today has to look different than it did back in 1986 when the Hall first started because music has changed, artists have changed, the sound has changed. We need a body of voters that understands the artists that are being considered for induction.

“To qualify [for induction], you have to have a record out at least 25 years ago. That’s 2000! We need a body of voters that understands music that was coming out in 2000. We have replaced a good number of voters over the past five years to reflect the artists being considered.”

Asked to be more precise than “a good number,” Sykes says “over 100.” He adds: “You can see the results in that Outkast did extremely well this year on the ballot, along with Soundgarden and The White Stripes. That reflects that we’re doing a good job [selecting artists] that reflect the acts that are eligible. We’ve got to do a better job. We have to continue to evolve because rock’n’roll never stops.

“At the same time, we feel it is very balanced because Joe Cocker, Chubby Checker and Cyndi Lauper also got in. What we strive to do is to keep a balanced voting body that doesn’t really favor any one style of rock’n’roll. … We need a voting body that understands the diverse sounds that make up rock’n’roll.”

Sykes says that about 70% of the current nominating committee members were on the committee when he assumed his post five years ago. “Some have been on the committee for many years. There really is no hard-and-fast rule about how many years [they can serve]. We basically gauge their interest/passion/commitment to the process and those who truly care and understand the importance of the position stay longer than others.”

Sykes says that in filling vacancies, “We just look at the people that are being added to the committee and their credentials for understanding who should be inducted.” He says that the voting body has more younger members, more women and more people of color than it did five years ago (though not more people from outside the U.S.) “That was our mandate coming in – that we have a voting body that looks like and understands the artists that we induct.”

“That’s in the charter of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame foundation,” Sykes says.

The general voting body is made up of historians, former inductees and members of the music industry. “It’s a diverse mixture of executives, artists and critics that choose the actual nominees,” Sykes says.

Sykes declined to say how many of the 1,200 voting members are Rock Hall inductees, though he said “There have been [about 400] inductees over the past 40 years. Many are still voters. It’s a group of your peers if you’re an artist. We think that should be a cornerstone of our voting body, because these [voters] are artists themselves.”

Sykes says the Rock Hall hasn’t asked any long-time voting members to leave the voting body, but some have signaled waning interest by not voting. “We found that the actual voting body naturally evolved,” he says. “Some of the older voters age out and no longer vote. If someone doesn’t vote for two years, they’re removed from the list and we look to fill those names in with a newer generation of voters that will understand the artists that are being considered for induction.

“The only way they are removed is if they do not vote two years in a row or sadly, they pass away.”

Every year, fans can vote for the nominees they would most like to see make the Rock Hall. This year, five of the top seven choices in the fan vote wound up being voted into the Rock Hall, though the No. 1 fan vote recipient, Phish, did not, nor did the No. 3 fan vote-getter, Billy Idol.

One vote isn’t much, but it’s something. “Sometimes, 10 or 20 votes can make the difference in an artist being inducted, so that one vote could come in handy,” Sykes says.

And the fan vote results may influence the committee members. “We always share the fan vote with the nominating committee.”

But Sykes doesn’t want to give the fan vote more weight. “It’s a great way to have the public weigh in, however, you may have a [worthy] 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.”

This year, The White Stripes and Outkast ranked 11th and 12th, respectively, in the fan voting, yet were inducted. They seem to be examples of worthy artists who don’t have a hyperactive fan base.

“We have a carefully selected group of nominating committee members and general voting body members that are really tasked with the job of choosing the most qualified inductees and that’s the system. … In the end, it’s the panel of journalists, artists, executives and experts who make the decision based on the influence these artists have had on culture and those [artists] who follow.”

The Musical Influence Award, Musical Excellence Award and the Ahmet Ertegun Award are voted on by three separate committees of approximately seven members each. “Some are on the nominating committee, some are not,” Sykes says. “Just like the traditional nominating process, each member comes in and truly gives a passionate speech for why they feel their choices should be included.”

“These categories were created to complement the performance categories. … Each year, we look at where there’s something that perhaps we missed; where there’s an artist, producer, executive that we feel should finally be recognized.”

Sykes says the members of these three smaller committees “have an idea of who the seven performer inductees are, because they come later on. They are involved later in the process.”

Some artists have been honored in these other categories after being passed over repeatedly in the performer category. Nile Rodgers received the Musical Excellence award in 2017 after his group Chic had been passed over in the performer category 11 times. Chaka Khan received the Musical Excellence Award in 2023 after either she or her group Rufus had been passed over a total of seven times. Kraftwerk received the Early Influence Award (now known as the Musical Influence Award) in 2021 after being passed over six times as a performer. King Curtis, LL Cool J and MC5 each received the Musical Excellence Award after being passed over six times as performers.

While some view these awards as consolation prizes, Sykes insists that they are fully equal awards, also voted on in hotly-competitive categories. Speaking of Khan, he said, “She still had to be voted in, it was just by a different committee.”

“We contact all the nominees with the news either way, whether they’re inducted or not,” Sykes says. “We’re very clear with the artists that are not [inducted] that this does not in any way, shape or form stop them from being considered in future years. In fact, usually it’s a good sign for an artist to get on the ballot, even if they don’t get inducted that year. Getting on the ballot the first time is the most important step for an artist getting into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This is a process and if you’re on the ballot once, there’s a good chance that you’re going to at one point be inducted. So, it’s a long journey.”

This year, Soundgarden got in on its third nomination; Cyndi Lauper and The White Stripes both got in on their second.

“We care very much about all the nominees and do our best to make sure the nominating committee the next year remembers those artists that got nominated but didn’t get inducted.”

Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker and Bad Company were also inducted this year. None had even been nominated before, despite each having been eligible for many years.  Checker had been eligible since 1986, the first year of the Rock Hall. Cocker had been eligible since 1994; Lauper since 2008.

“It clearly supports the proposition that you should never give up; that there’s always a chance that you’ll be considered to be nominated and actually inducted. It’s not one-strike-and-you’re out. There are actually [cases like this] where you finally get your due.”

Sykes was especially pleased that Lenny Waronker will be receiving the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

“I think Lenny Waronker has been an unsung hero as an executive. To me, he is living proof of why that category was created. He was an executive who signed artists, who hired producers and was a producer himself of the greatest artists in rock’n’roll. He embodies all the other qualifications that really make someone eligible for that award. I’m happy that at 83 years old, he’s finally going to get this recognition that has been long overdue.”