Readers to pick Rolling Stone cover band

Getting on the cover of Rolling Stone has long been a musician's dream - Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show even wrote a hit song about it.

"Wanna see my picture on the cover. Wanna buy five copies for my mother. Wanna see my smilin' face on the cover of the Rolling Stone," goes the 1973 song penned by Shel Silverstein.

Now the magazine is holding a contest to let its readers choose which of 16 unsigned bands should feature on the cover of Rolling Stone later this year.

Readers are being asked to vote online at rollingstone.com/choosethecover or at AOL's Music Page at music.aol.com/blog/rollingstone.

The two finalists will eventually face off against each other on stage at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, in June.

"The ultimate winner, in addition to being the first unsigned band to ever appear on the cover, will also receive a recording contract from Atlantic Records," Rolling Stone said in a blog post.