The fans have been heard, and the late-Texas bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan and his band Double Trouble top the Rock Hall's public poll, rating the musicians most worthy to enter the Hall of Fame.
MUSIC: "Pride and Joy" UP & UNDER
For the past two months, about 700 music scholars, writers and musicians have been casting ballots to pare down a list of 15 nominees to about a half dozen performers who will actually enter the Hall of Fame when the induction ceremonies are held in Cleveland, next April. Among those ballots is one that represents the collective opinion of fans, who registered their picks in an on-line poll. Although, fan input amounts to one-seven-hundredth's-worth of influence, the Rock Hall's Todd Mesek argues that it could sway the count on a close ballot. Mesek adds that the intention is for the count to be one vote for one fan, but he acknowledges that multiple voting is possible…and probable. He compares it to the baseball All-Star ballot, and other non-scientific public polls.
TODD MESEK: By and large, we think it's clean, and where you see artists take off is with the fans that are really rabid behind it, that share it on social media that encourage other fan clubs or groups to rally. And you can see that from the traffic.
Also popular with the fans were Nine-Inch Nails, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Bill Withers, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. We'll see how closely those choices match the chosen few when the new class of inductees is announced Tuesday morning.
