Rock Hall of Fame Chairman Was Surprised by Mariah Carey Snub: She “Should Have Been Inducted This Year…She’s Deserving”

Even a month after the official list of the 2026 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees was unveiled, Mariah Carey fans – affectionately called #Lambs – are still decrying the omission of their fave from inclusion for the second time in her legendary career.

And while she’s taken to press to make clear she “doesn’t care” about being left out of the coveted count, her longtime supporters don’t share her nonchalant view – and executives at the legendary organization are definitely hearing about it.

Among them is John Sykes, the chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, who took to Billboard to weigh in on Carey’s cut from the 2026 class of inductees.

This year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomed 18 honorees – its largest class since 1987 when 22 legendary acts entered.

The sixth year in a row that there have been 13 or more inductees, big names like Luther Vandross, Sade, and Wu-Tang Clan got in while popular acts like Carey and New Edition couldn’t boast the same.

Chatting with Billboard recently, Sykes weighed in on the absence of the Songbird Supreme from the final tally.

“I really believed that Mariah Carey should have, would have been inducted this year, because I think she’s deserving. But I don’t run this by myself. It’s a democratic system of voters. There’s no backroom politics in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” he said. “I think she’s a genius artist. She’s written [18] No. 1 songs [on the Billboard Hot 100]. She’s moved a generation of young people. I just think she’s incredible.”

Before #Lambs booted up to launch an attack against him on social media, however, John wanted to make clear he was not the final decisionmaker.

“I think that she’s deserving. But again, we have a very open voting process and it’s determined by committees of music executives, writers, artists, and they make the decision, not me,” he relayed.

All-in-all, Sykes says he has spoken to Mariah since her exclusion from induction and can only hope she is willing to compete again for next year’s class.

Read the full interview here.