The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame recently announced their Class of 2021, which did not include Iron Maiden despite their presence on the fan ballot. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Greg Harris originally addressed the snub in an interview, saying that the hall does indeed celebrate metal and it's just that metal artists keep not making the cut.
Now in another interview with WBAB, Harris addresses Iron Maiden specifically and pretty much says that people like different music.
"There’s no doubt that they are an impactful, influential band, and that’s why they were nominated this year, along with 15 other artists and acts, and when the votes came in, these six were the leaders. So we’re not questioning, are they an important band, are they impactful and influential.
"Of those that have been nominated throughout history, over 80 percent of them have been eventually inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. So everybody has their favorites; everybody has different artists that impacted them or impacted other artists. So, if you look at this list, you can make that case for all of these folks, just like people make that case for Iron Maiden."
I mean, as obvious as the statement is, he's right. Plus for me personally, Iron Maiden being or not being in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame affects my enjoyment of the band exactly zero percent.
Harris spoke to Audacy last week saying "It’s an interesting one because we do," said Harris. "We celebrate all forms of Rock & Roll. They were nominated; we nominated Maiden, Judas Priest have been nominated, we put Def Leppard in… Those that are nominated, over 80% of them eventually do get inducted.
"So it’s really a question of, let’s keep nominating them, let’s get ‘em on the ballot, and let’s get it out to the voting body. This ballot had sixteen artists on it… they just can’t all go in."
To be eligible for the Class of 2021, all nominee's first singles or albums must have been released in 1995 or earlier. Iron Maiden released their first singles "Running Free", "Sanctuary", and "Women In Uniform" in 1980, while Rage Against The Machine released their first single "Killing in the Name" in 1992.
