Def Leppard at The O2 Arena, December 2018 in London. Photo by Jo Hale/Redferns
English hard rock heroes, Def Leppard have won the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s fan vote, ahead of the 2019 inductees being named later this week.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the nominees for its class of 2019 back in October. The list included fellow Brits, The Cure and Radiohead, while the omniscient Stevie Nicks – who has already been inducted with Fleetwood Mac – also scored a solo nomination.
According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Def Leppard topped the public vote with 547,647 votes, while Stevie Nicks came in a close second, securing 427,844 votes.
While winning the fan vote doesn’t guarantee induction, history dictates that it's a pretty good sign. Since its introduction in 2012, all of the artists who have won it have gone on to receive the honour. The five top-polling acts will all receive an additional vote in the final ballot, but the end result will ultimately depend on what the rest of the voters have to say.
Even though this is Def Leppard's first nomination, frontman Joe Elliott said (to Billboard) that the band are “not taking anything for granted”.
“You’re looking at the likes of Todd Rundgren (23 years) and Roxy Music (21 years) and Devo (15 years), and it took them long enough to get a nomination,” Elliott explained. “So, I don’t feel so bad now that we got overlooked when you see people like them, people I was out buying their records when I was 12 years old. So, it’s alright. It’s kinda cool.”
“It’s not really gonna change my life, really, one way or the other – but Jon Bon Jovi has been telling me for at least 12 months that yes, it will.”
“I’m not gonna hold my breath because I know how this can go. Judas Priest didn’t get in last year, and it’s a big disappointment for them that they didn’t. So, I’m not taking anything for granted.”
The 2019 inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be announced at 8am on Thursday, December 13th, which will be around midnight for us Aussies.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame fan vote results:
Def Leppard – 547,647
Stevie Nicks – 427,844
Todd Rundgren – 365,370
The Zombies – 329,52
The Cure – 264,443
Janet Jackson – 218,581
Devo – 186,754
Roxy Music – 167,307
Rage Against the Machine – 148,208
Radiohead – 140,458
John Prine – 136,746
LL Cool J – 119,657
Rufus & Chaka Khan – 99,724
Kraftwerk – 87,456
MC5 – 85,304
For more time-honoured classic hits, check out our Classic Rock Radio playlist, stacked history's finest tunes!
