Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson reveals why he'd refuse Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction
Bruce Dickinson has revealed why he would snub the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame if Iron Maiden were ever inducted.
Eligible for induction since 2005 – 25 years after the release of their eponymous debut album ‘Iron Maiden’ – incredibly, despite being one of the biggest metal bands on Planet Earth, Iron Maiden are yet to pick up a single Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination.
Bruce stuck the boot into the Hall of Fame at a spoken word event at Palais Theatre in Melbourne last month dubbing it “an utter and complete load of bollocks” and “run by a bunch of sanctimonious bloody Americans who wouldn’t know rock ‘n’ roll if it hit them in the face.”
Asked about the comments in a new interview with The Jerusalem Post, Bruce expressed his dissatisfaction at the news reports as they made it seem like he cared about the Hall of Fame.
"I was so annoyed with that coverage because they took my statement out of context to make it seem like I was upset that we weren't in the Hall Of Fame,” Bruce explained.
"I'm really happy we're not there and I would never want to be there. If we're ever inducted, I will refuse — they won't bloody be having my corpse in there.”
He continued: "Rock and roll music does not belong in a mausoleum in Cleveland. It's a living, breathing thing, and if you put it in a museum, then it's dead. It's worse than horrible, it's vulgar."
Commenting on the Hall of Fame in an interview with Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon in October, Iron Maiden founder Steve Harris said it wasn’t even on his radar.
"I don't really think about it, to be honest. I think awards are things that are nice to have when you get them, but it's not something you're really striving for — it's not what it's about it," Steve said.
"It's never been about that. It's always been about just trying to make good music and go out and play good live shows, and that's it, really. Hopefully people will appreciate it. It's probably nice when people give you awards - don't get me wrong; I think it's great - but it's not something that you would lose sleep over if you didn't get any.”
Tickets to the sprawling North American leg of Iron Maiden’s Legacy of the Beast tour in summer 2019 are on sale today.
To celebrate the tour announcement, Iron Maiden recently unleashed an official ‘Run To The Hills’ live video filmed on their European tour this summer. Watch it right here: