Legendary Rock & Metal Bands Snubbed From Nominations For Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

Legendary Rock & Metal Bands Snubbed From Nominations For Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
Original Photo Credits: Lemmy - Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR | Lou Gramm - Misterweiss, CC BY-SA 3.0 | Phil Lynott - Chris Hakkens, CC BY-SA 2.0 (www.flickr.com/photos/chris_hakkens/5110138106/in/set-72157625104139417/), via Wikimedia Commons

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced its nominees for the Class Of 2023. According to Rolling Stone, the top vote-getters will be announced in May and inducted in the fall. 

While Iron Maiden, Rage Against The Machine and Soundgarden are among the 2023 nominees, numerous hard rock and heavy metal bands were again omitted. 

Eight of the nominees (Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, The White Stripes and Warren Zevon) are on the ballot for the first time. 

It’s the fifth time Rage Against The Machine has appeared on the ballot, the fourth time for Kate Bush and The Spinners and the second time for Iron Maiden and A Tribe Called Quest. 

“This remarkable list of Nominees reflects the diverse artists and music that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honors and celebrates,” said John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation. “These artists have created their own sounds that have impacted generations and influenced countless others that have followed in their footsteps.”

Numerous hard rock and heavy metal bands aren’t on the nominees list this year. Notable snubs include:  Foreigner, Motörhead, Styx, Boston, Thin Lizzy, REO Speedwagon, Pantera, Ronnie James Dio, Motley Crue, Jethro Tull, Sammy Hagar, MC5, J. Geils Band, Eddie Money, Danzig (and/or Misfits), Alice In Chains and Smashing Pumpkins, among others. 

Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris talked about the band being excluded from the Rock Hall even though they have been eligible since 2004. 

“I don’t mind that we’re not in things like that,” he told Rolling Stone in an interview. “I don’t think about things like that. It’s very nice if people give you awards or accolades, but we didn’t get into the business for that sort of thing. I’m certainly not going to lose sleep if we don’t get any sort of award, not just that one, any award. I don’t think we deserve to have this or that necessarily. With what we do, whatever comes of it is great. Whatever doesn’t come of it is great, too.”

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett lamented that Motörhead and Thin Lizzy had not been inducted when he spoke on Dean Delray’s “Let There Be Talk” podcast in 2020. 

“I really think that when things like that happen, it might be a generational thing where maybe some of the older people just don’t get it — they just don’t f*cking get it,” Hammett said. “They don’t see the range of influence and the impact and the inspiration that certain bands have. They don’t hear it, because maybe they’re part of a different generation and were told that vocals sung like that are bad. But they’re not. … Some of those Motorhead recordings are f*cking so beautifully raw.”

Turning to Thin Lizzy, Hammett said: “They were such a huge influence with me and all my friends and all the bands that were coming up at the same time we were, and they’re still not in the f*cking Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Again, maybe it’s generational, I don’t know. Maybe they just didn’t sell enough f*cking albums. Sometimes it feels like you have to sell a certain amount of albums before they would even consider you, which is, I think, a big piece of sh*t too.”

B.J. LISKO
Follow B.J.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT


AROUND THE WEB