Tom Morello is more than a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, he’s an active member of the organization’s nominating committee.
The Rage Against the Machine guitarist got involved with the institution roughly a decade ago, after confronting Jon Landau – Bruce Springsteen’s manager and one of the Hall’s key executives – about the organization’s credibility.
“My argument was this,” Morello recalled during a recent conversation with Sirius XM’s Eddie Trunk. “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 and roll guitar players have no respect for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. None of their favorite bands are in it.”
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Morello insisted that the Hall needed to be “a place that everyone who loves rock and roll aspires to be in because their heroes are there. And you don’t have that right now.” Landau was so moved by the guitarist’s passion that he invited Morello to get involved. “To his credit, he put me in the room.”
Tom Morello Says Iron Maiden’s Hall Absence Is an ‘Egregious Oversight’
Morello has championed many artists’ Hall cases over the past decade, including Kiss, MC5, Randy Rhoads and Judas Priest. Still, one omission weighs heavily on the guitarist.
“I will chew my leg off like a coyote in a trap if I can’t get Iron Maiden in,” Morello declared. “While there are many other deserving acts, Iron Maiden for me is the last most egregious oversight in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
“Iron Maiden is like the gold standard of metal bands and they’re not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Morello continued. “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 and Roll Hall of Fame.”
READ MORE: 5 Reasons Iron Maiden Should Be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
As Morello mentioned, Iron Maiden has been vocally against enshrinement in the Hall, with Dickinson even describing the organization as “an utter and complete load of bollocks.” Still, the Rage Against the Machine rocker insists such comments have no bearing on Maiden’s case.
“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?’ But that doesn’t [come up].”
145 Artists Not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Many have shared their thoughts on possible induction.
Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock Staff
