Iron Maiden Announces Plan To Skip Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction
The band insists that its already-scheduled shows must go on
Twenty-one years after first becoming eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Iron Maiden is finally getting the nod it deserved a long, long time ago and will be inducted this November.
However, the band already says it won't be there.
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A month and a half ago, Maiden announced the final batch of shows on its 50th anniversary (of its founding, not the first record), Run For Your Lives Tour in Australia and New Zealand.
Knowing this, fans realized Maiden would be on the opposite side of the globe when the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction takes place on November 13.
Maiden is not a band that cancels shows unless absolutely necessary, and the gigs in Australia and New Zealand are not being touched.
"As the most observant have already noticed, the band will be on tour in Australia around the November date of the Induction ceremony for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles," the band's longtime manager, Rod Smallwood (an absolute legend), told Billboard. "In accepting, Iron Maiden made it very clear to the R&R HoF that the fans always come first and that the shows will, of course, go on."
So, unfortunately, Iron Maiden will not hit the stage at the induction ceremony, but it's pretty cool that the band is putting the fans above an honor that not everyone in the band has been super keen on over the years.
Back in 2018, lead singer Bruce Dickinson absolutely ripped the Rock Hall a third corn chute while at an event promoting his memoir.
"I actually think the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is an utter and complete load of bollocks, to be honest with you," he said, per Ultimate Classic Rock. "It’s run by a bunch of sanctimonious bloody Americans who wouldn’t know rock ’n’ roll if it hit them in the face. They need to stop taking Prozac and start drinking f--king beer."
I don't know if being American has much to do with the sanctimoniousness, but he's got a point, as evidenced by the numerous snubs still waiting for their call from Cleveland.