The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2026 inductees will be announced during the April 13 episode of American Idol, and fans will no doubt want to see if the nominees they supported in the online fan vote have managed to get in.
After more than 9 million votes were cast, the act that ended up on top of the leaderboard is R&B group New Edition, who scored just over 1 million of those votes. In 2023, New Edition inducted The Spinners into the Hall and performed in their honor.
Coming in at #2 is Phil Collins, who is already in the Hall as a member of Genesis. The drummer, singer, songwriter, producer and actor, who has sold over 100 million records as a solo artist, received close to 901,000 votes.
Pink came in at #3 with over 850,000 votes, while Shakira was #4 with 738,000 votes. The late Luther Vandross was just behind Shakira at #5, with just under 733,000 votes.
Australian rockers INXS were #6, followed by British group Sade at #7. The top seven vote-getters were highlighted on the leaderboard because all actual voting members were each allowed to vote for seven acts.
However, it’s worth noting that the act that comes in at #1 on the fan vote isn’t guaranteed induction. That’s because all the fan votes together are tallied as one single ballot, joining the 1,200 ballots submitted by the actual voting members of the Hall of Fame.
As for the rest of this year’s nominees, here’s how they stacked up:
8. Wu-Tang Clan
9. Billy Idol
10. Mariah Carey
11. Lauryn Hill
12. Iron Maiden
13. Melissa Etheridge
14. The Black Crowes
15. Oasis
16. Joy Division + New Order
17. Jeff Buckley
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
