The 2019 class for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame consists of Janet Jackson, Cure, Def Leppard, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music and The Zombies. Not exactly very rock and roll, especially considering bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and Bad Brains still haven't been inducted. So what's the deal with the iffy inductions as of late? According to Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen, they're running out of bands to induct.
In a recent interview with Tom Bedell of Q104 , Collen was asked in Bon Jovi being inducted in 2018 and Def Leppard being inducted in 2019 meant that 80s hair metal was getting some attention, he says not quite.
"Not that. They're just running out of people to put in there, to be quite honest. Let's be real. And there's not that many bands left — that's the other thing. I know that's not really a consideration, but, yeah, if you stick out there long enough, there's gonna be… They're gonna go, 'Oh, who do we put in this year?' And they kind of scrape the barrel. So, yeah, we'd get in at some point, I guess."
Collen was also asked who he thinks should be inducted, and he replies "Honestly, I really don't care. It's not something I really follow, to be quite honest." He adds he's just excited to be out there playing music. I love Collen's answer because it's not someone like Trent Reznor or Bruce Dickinson calling the hall out for being a load of nonsense. This is someone who is being inducted this year turning around and saying that eventually they'll just pick anyone to be in there because they've run out of options.
Oh well. In the end, it's just a tourist attraction.
