Why Phish Was This Year’s Biggest Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snub

The fans of perennially-shunned Rock and Roll Hall of Fame candidates such as Warren Zevon and Bad Company got great news last night, as their favorite artists were finally inducted into the class of 2025.

Phish fans weren’t so lucky. The jam-rock kings were the most surprising snub from this year’s field of contenders.

The Vermont band, founded in 1983, is known for its unique sound influenced by prog rock, jazz, and funk. It is characterized by twenty-minute, mind-bending improvisational cuts and their maniacal following and counter culture. The group consists of Trey Anastasio (guitar and lead vocals), Page McConnell (keyboards and vocals), Mike Gordon (bass and vocals), and Jon Fishman (drums and vocals). Phish certainly meets the criteria for induction, with their high-demand tours year after year and a sound that is a niche of its own. Phish never plays the same set twice, including thirteen consecutive sellouts at Madison Square Garden with no songs repeated, known as “The Baker’s Dozen.”

Watch Phish Perform ‘Blaze On’

As the Rock Hall states, “There is nothing like the pure freedom and joy of a Phish concert—a powerful communal moment often likened to a religious experience, a transcendent moment.”

Phish topped the fan votes for this year’s nominees by more than 50,000 votes but was left out of the party. How could that be?

Surprisingly, Billy Idol, who ranked #3 in total fan voting, was also snubbed, receiving more than 260,000 votes yet not making the cut. As you can see from the list below, bands like the White Stripes made the list despite being near the bottom for fan votes, yet The Black Crowes also missed the mark:

Phish: 329,281 votes
Bad Company: 280,725 votes
Billy Idol: 260,416 votes
Cyndi Lauper: 236,960 votes
Joe Cocker: 233,495 votes
Soundgarden: 233,205 votes
Chubby Checker: 203,092 votes
The Black Crowes: 165,249 votes
Mariah Carey: 137,993 votes
Joy Division + New Order: 120,346 votes
The White Stripes: 110,511 votes
Outkast: 108,073 votes
Oasis: 99,381 votes
Maná: 34,506 votes

Read More: When Phish Staged ‘The Great Went’

How are the fan votes measured? Rather than having a ballot for each fan vote, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame places the top five on one ballot, thus representing only one of 1200 ballots, amid a field of artists, writers and industry executives. This has a minimal impact on the overall results, hence why Billy Idol, The Black Crowes, and Phish missed the mark.

Similarly, in 2020, despite winning the fan vote, The Dave Matthews Band was not inducted into the Rock Hall. However, DMB would later be crowned four years later, in 2024. This is not the end of the road for Phish, who, despite being snubbed, are carving a path of their own. Maybe it’s time to consider new metrics for voting.