Chicago Topping The List of Fan Favorite

We are down to the final 48 hours. Fans can help rock the vote at the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame. At last count the group Chicago was leading the pack of fan favorites. But where does Deep Purple and Steve Miller fit in? How do the guys of Chicago feel about this moment knowing it's just another trophy? In an interview last year, Chicago trumpet player Lee Loughnane shares his feelings about their omission thus far from the Rock Hall. “We used to think more about it than we are now, because it’s inexplicable why we wouldn’t be in it. To be able to work at this level this much time later it doesn’t mean anything to be in it or not be in it -- or, if it does, we haven’t been able to experience that yet. If it does happen, that’s something that will happen and then be gone, ‘cause any award or accolade that you are given is fleeting. Then you have the next moment after the ‘Thank you very much.’ What do you do now? Move on.” The fan-voting process for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be ending on Dec. 9. According to the current standings, Chicago is leading the pack, having picked up more than 37 million votes, or 23.4 percent of the overall tally. While Chicago has a clear hold on the top spot, a little more than half a million votes separate Yes, the Cars, Deep Purple and the Steve Miller Band for second through fifth places. Cheap Trick, the only other classic rock band among the 15 nominees, are in seventh place. Janet Jackson (fifth place), the Spinners, Chaka Khan, Chic, the J.B.’s, N.W.A., Nine Inch Nails, the Smiths and Los Lobos (eighth through 15th places) are the other nominees. You can cast your vote and then see the latest count at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s website. However, this doesn’t necessarily suggest that Chicago will automatically be inducted. As the Hall’s website says about the induction process, “The Top Five Nominees as voted by the fans count for one ballot entry, which is weighted the same as individual ballot entries submitted by members of the international voting body.” In other words, with “more than 600 artists, historians and members of the music industry” comprising the voting body, the fan vote counts for less than 0.0017 percent of the overall tally. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame traditionally announces the inductees in mid-December, with the Induction Ceremony taking place in April. An edited version of the ceremony will be televised on HBO in the summer.