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Tom Morello is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee, and he’s hellbent on getting one band in particular inducted: Iron Maiden.
While the Hall continues to have holes in its list of inductees, fellow British metal pioneers Judas Priest were inducted in 2022, and Morello feels Maiden are just as deserving. He made his argument during a recent interview on The Eddie Trunk Podcast (listen below).
“I will chew my leg off like a coyote in a trap if I can’t get Iron Maiden in,” Morello stated. “While there are many other deserving acts, Iron Maiden for me is the last most egregious oversight in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”
He continued, “Iron Maiden is like the gold standard of metal bands and they’re not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And I know Bruce Dickinson said he doesn’t really care. Well I care as a fan. I care very, very much about it. So I’m gonna do all I can to get, [with] whatever limited influence I have, to get Iron Maiden in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”
Indeed, Dickinson has been outspoken in his opposition to the Rock Hall, previously saying that Maiden — who’ve been eligible since 2004 — deserved to be inducted but that he would refuse the enshrinement if it did happen.
“I’m really happy we’re not there and I would never want to be there,” Dickinson told the Jerusalem Post in 2018. “If we’re ever inducted, I will refuse — they won’t bloody be having my corpse in there.”
Meanwhile, Morello did ponder the possibility of Iron Maiden not showing up their own induction ceremony.
“I’m sure there are some people who are thinking about, ‘What will the show be if one of the headliners doesn’t show up?’” Morello told Eddie Trunk. “But that doesn’t [come up].”
The Rage Against the Machine guitarist joined the nominating committee years ago in an effort to increase the Hall’s credibility in the eyes of younger bands and artists, imploring Bruce Springsteen manager Jon Landau – and chairman of the committee — to let him onboard.
Speaking with Eddie Trunk, Morello explained his motivation for joining the committee by unfavorably comparing the Rock Hall to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
“If you’re a little league player, your dream as a young baseball player is to have such a career that you would end up in the baseball hall of fame. I said, ‘A lot of young rock ‘n’ roll guitar players have no respect for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. None of their favorite bands are in it.”
He added that the Rock Hall should be “a place that everyone who loves rock ‘n’ roll aspires to be in because their heroes are there. And you don’t have that right now.”
The oversight of Iron Maiden hasn’t fazed the UK legends in the slightest, as they continue to tour the world and perform to legions of diehard fans. The band is currently on the tail end of its fall North American tour, with a show Tuesday night (November 12th) in Baltimore followed by three more dates. Pick up last-minute tickets here.
Hear Tom Morello discussing the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on The Eddie Trunk Podcast in the player below, and see Consequence‘s own list of the 24 Worst Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Snubs.
English (US) · 