Duran Duran took the lead in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame fan vote, topping rapper Eminem a day after his high-profile Super Bowl halftime show performance, no less, and it didn't take long for things to get ugly.
After overcoming a 20,000-vote deficit, Duran fell behind again. Apparently, Eminem fans were starting to get angry (his music skews angry, after all). Some Duran fans reported being unable to log their daily votes after a list of emails was gleaned from a Facebook group. But Duranies rocked on: They started voting at 12:01 a.m. each day.
Then came the allegations against Duranies: that fans were forming alliances with the fan bases of acts like BTS, Taylor Swift, and One Direction. Twitter posts indicate there is a small movement to support a pop/rock band over a rapper for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but it's unclear if Duranies played any role in encouraging those fan bases.
Now, Eminem fans, or "Stans," as they call themselves, are calling out Duran fans for using multiple email addresses to cast votes. But the rules seem clear: "Enter a valid email address" to "cast one ballot per day." Email addresses must be verified, a rule likely aimed at preventing bots from voting. Using more than a few different email addresses to vote daily is possible. However, the potential for one person to vote from multiple emails is likely why the fan vote counts for so little in the overall scheme of things.
If there's one thing that's clear, it's that Duranies are loyal. They ask their families, friends, and others to vote for the band daily. They remind their fellow fans to vote daily.
The honor of even being nominated to the rock hall has been a long time coming: Duran has been eligible for several years. Duranies are going to make this nomination count, even if we play just a small role in its outcome.
The battle is moving past Eminem, though it was never about him. It's about showing the world how much Duran Duran matters. The next goal: getting the most votes. We're at nearly half a million with about two months to go. Let's continue to rock the vote:
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