Soundgarden and Maiden Snubbed, Rage Makes The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
It took SIX BALLOTS. SIX. For Rage Against The Machine to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. SIX. Others artists/bands joining Rage this year: Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, Kate Bush, George Michael, Sheryl Crow and The Spinners. This year’s ceremony will be held in Brooklyn on November 3.
In addition, Chaka Khan, Al Kooper and Bernie Taupin will be honoured with the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s Musical Excellence Award. DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray will receive the Musical Influence Award. And the late creator and host of “Soul Train” Don Cornelius is this year’s recipient of the Ahmet Ertegun Award, which honours non-performing industry professionals.
Rock Hall CEO and president Joel Peresman said, “We’re very happy with this year’s class. People always try to pigeonhole what rock and roll is, but our story has always been that it’s a wide tent. It includes all different kinds of genres. We think this class really shows the breadth of rock and roll. When you have Missy Elliott, Sheryl Crow and The Spinners along with Rage Against The Machine and Willie Nelson, you’re covering a lot of things.”
RATM guitarist Tom Morello was interviewed by Rolling Stone in March and said, “There’s a funny mix of people that do the voting. It’s people that are already in. There’s an age component. There’s a leaning mainstream component as well…If you saw any of the Rage Against The Machine shows last summer, you’d be hard-pressed to make an argument against us.”
To be eligible for this year’s ballot, each nominee’s first single or album had to have been released in 1998 or earlier. Eight of the nominees (Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, Joy Division / New Order, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, The White Stripes and Warren Zevon) were on the ballot for the first time.
Soundgarden shockingly didn’t get inducted. How the hell does that happen?? One of the best rock bands period. PERIOD. Nope.
Same for Iron Maiden. They’ve only been on the ballot twice and both times, no. Maiden. Like, your guess is as good as mine to what they’re smoking to not IMMEDIATELY induct that band. Go figure.
Four years ago, Maiden bassist Steve Harris talked to Rolling Stone and said that he didn’t care if his band had yet to be inducted, even though they’ve been eligible since 2004, “I don’t mind that we’re not in things like that. 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.”
And btw, Iron Maiden’s situation isn’t a first – KISS was eligible for induction in 1999, didn’t get their first nominations ’til 2009 and wasn’t inducted until 2014.
You’re always gonna have people chirping off about the Hall’s induction policies. And to have Missy Elliot, Willie Nelson and Kate Bush make it in over Maiden and Soundgarden? Have another pull of the pipe, ya crackhead.
