Eminem, Duran Duran and Pat Benatar top Rock Hall fan ballot

Eminem, Duran Duran and Pat Benatar are among the artists to top this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame fan ballot.

Duran Duran, a first-time Rock Hall nominee in 2022, came out on top with nearly 934,000 votes, which was 250,000 more votes than second highest artist on the fan ballot, Eminem (684,000).

Finishing just 50,000 votes behind the Detroit rapper, two-time nominee Benatar took third place on the fan ballot with 631,000. The fourth and fifth spots went to Eurythmics (442,000) and Dolly Parton (394,000) respectively.

Finishing just outside the Top Five: Three-time nominee Judas Priest and first-time nominees Carly Simon and Lionel Richie. You can see the final results here.

Winning the fan ballot does not ensure an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A body of more than 1,000 artists, industry members and historians will help decide which five acts out of the 17 will progress into the final round of induction consideration.

Other names vying for a place in the Rock Hall include A Tribe Called Quest, Devo, Beck, Rage Against The Machine, MC5, Dionne Warwick, Fela Kuti, New York Dolls and Kate Bush.

The Rock Hall Class of 2022 is revealed in May. A date and location for the ceremony itself has yet to be announced but the event will happen sometime this autumn.

Last year’s inductees were Tina Turner, Carole King, The Go-Go’s, JAY-Z, Foo Fighters and Todd Rundgren, in the Performers category; Kraftwerk, Charley Patton, Gil Scott-Heron, in the Early Influence category; LL Cool J, Billy Preston, Randy Rhoads, in the Musical Excellence category; and Clarence Avant received the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

Meanwhile, Dolly Parton has reversed her stance on being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and said she will accept the honour should she be voted in.

Last month (March 14), Parton shared a statement saying that, while she was “extremely flattered and grateful” to be in the running, she didn’t feel that she had “earned the right”. “I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out,” she wrote.

However, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has not removed the musician’s name from the ballot. In an interview on NPR’s Morning Edition yesterday (April 29), the star was asked what she would do if she still received enough votes to enter her into the hall of fame.

“Well, I’ll accept gratefully,” she replied. “I will say ‘thanks’ and accept that.”

You can view the original article HERE.