Even though they have been eligible since 1999, Judas Priest continue to be snubbed by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. One nominating committee member has now revealed why the band is absent from this year’s ballot.

Apparently Judas Priest scored “horrendously” in last year's voting committee tally, according to music journalist and committee member Alan Light. As reported by Future Rock Legends, Light revealed the closed-door details of the process while appearing on the SiriusXM morning show Feedback.

The band did well in last year’s fan poll, but members of the 30-person voting committee gave little support to Judas Priest’s case. So this year, the hard-rock fans of the organization decided to shift their focus to Def Leppard. The British rockers appear on the ballot for the first time this year and currently lead in the fan voting.

Light also detailed the support for another of this year’s new additions to the ballot, Stevie Nicks. ”In the nominating room, Pat Benatar came up, Cyndi Lauper came up, the Go-Go's came up and the Eurythmics were in this conversation, and not that it comes down to this, but the women in the room really did start to coalesce around Stevie and push things that way out of the mix that was there,” he explained to hosts Nik Carter and Lori Majewski. “That was the one that -- and it's silly to say that women are one piece of what's here-- when it's women of the '80s, I don't think you put Pat, Cyndi and Stevie on a ballot together in the same way that you don't put the Cure, the Smiths and Depeche Mode on the ballot together. It was actually the women in the committee who sort of led the focus to Stevie out of that list.”

Light went on to reveal some big-name voters and whom they support. According to the writer, Dave Grohl is responsible for getting Devo nominated, while former David Letterman band leader Paul Shaffer championed the Zombies. One band not on the ballot is Procol Harum, but according to Light, E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt makes an argument on the group's behalf every year.

Fan voting for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame continues through Dec. 9. The 2019 inductees will be honored during a ceremony at the Barclays Center in New York on March 29, 2019. The show will be broadcast live on SiriusXM's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Radio station.

 

 

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