During a recent appearance on the “Legends N Leaders” podcast, KISS icon Gene Simmons discussed the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and questioned why rap artists have been inducted when several notable rock bands have yet to be honored by the institution.
“The fact that, for instance, Iron Maiden is not in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, when they can sell out stadiums, and Grandmaster Flash is,” Simmons said questioning rap inductees.
“Ice Cube and I had a back-and-forth, and he’s a bright guy and I respect what he’s done. It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language. And I said in print many times, hip-hop does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, nor does opera, symphony orchestras. How come the New York Philharmonic doesn’t get in? ‘Cause it’s called the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. But he shot back and said, No, it’s the spirit of rock and roll.’ Okay, fine. So Ice Cube and Grandmaster Flash and all these guys are in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. I just wanna know when Led Zeppelin’s gonna be in the Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame. ‘Oh, you can’t do that?’ Oh, really?”
Simmons came under fire on social media for his use of the word “ghetto,” but he issued a statement to People explaining that: “I stand by my words. Let’s cut to the chase. The word ‘ghetto’, it originated with Jews. It was borrowed by African Americans in particular and respectfully, not in a bad way.” Ghetto is a Jewish term … How could you be, when rock is black music? It’s just a different black music than hip-hop, which is also black music. Rock ‘n’ roll owes everything to black music, statement of fact, period. All the major forms of American music owe their roots to black music.”
On Friday, Simmons also commented via his X account saying: “Interestingly, people get upset by opinions. Too bad…Fact: Rock n Roll, Jazz, Blues & Hip Hop all had roots in black music. No question about that. My question however is, when are Led Zeppelin & AC/DC being inducted into the Hip Hop Hall of Fame?”
