She is, as we know, simply the best, but the math confirms it even further: Tina Turner won the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 2021 Fan Vote, a feat that sounds a lot more exciting than it actually is. Joining Turner on the Fan Vote “ballot†is Fela Kuti, the Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, and Foo Fighters, who respectively came in second, third, fourth, and fifth place. (And because we know you’re curious, Jay-Z came in dead last of the 16 nominees.) Despite Turner’s triumphant Fan Vote win — and as last year’s fervent Dave Matthews Band fans can tell you —this doesn’t guarantee a damn thing when it comes to her induction chances. We know, sorry! Turner and the four other acts make up one Fan Vote “ballot†that will be tallied along with the hundreds of other ballots from the Hall’s members, where all five acts are of equal standing on their ballot. By that logic, the fifth-place Foo Fighters have just as much power as Turner’s win. If anything, we should feel bad for the sixth-place Carole King.
Historically, there’s no correlation between Fan Vote selection and subsequent inductions. Last year, for instance, only one of the five Fan Vote acts actually got inducted (long-overdue yacht-rock legends the Doobie Brothers), although there’s a stronger precedent for the ballot’s winner: Up until last year’s Dave Matthews snub, every single Fan Vote champion had been inducted the same year they won. (And it’s a fun list: 2013’s Rush, 2014’s Kiss, 2015’s Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, 2016’s Chicago, 2017’s Journey, 2018’s Bon Jovi, and 2019’s Def Leppard.) The Hall’s 2021 induction class will be announced later this month, so all you can do is wait and rewatch that Schitt’s Creek wedding in the meantime.