They were probably going to give it to Michael Jackson, but he's too crazy and too dead. And BJ certainly deserves it more than a video whore like Madonna, who would never have had a career if MTV hadn't existed.

And keep in mind that BJ hasn't had the best of relationships with Rolling Stone. Jon has complained about their putting only him on the cover when he was promised that the entire band would be--so much for their complaints about the rest of the band being unknown.