Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Longtime Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain offered his thoughts on the band’s candidacy for the 2026 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a recent interview with Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen & Shane McEachern, as per Blabbermouth. Although Maiden has been eligible to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2004, McBrain and a number of other band members have only received three nominations—in 2021, 2023, and 2026. Nicko made this statement following a comment made by one of the interviewees that the Rock Hall has “gotta get it right this time” and finally induct Maiden.
Yeah. You just never know, do you? I mean, it hasbeen a long road. Many nominations — I’m not sure how many this is; maybe the third or fourth one, perhaps.
Nicko went on to mention that rap, metal, R&B, hip-hop, Britpop, blues rock, and pop musicians are among the 2026 nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Yeah, in the greater scheme of things, it’s not really a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame anymore, but it’s still a wonderful accolade to be given finally to hopefully — the guys may go, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna induct them.’ But at the end of the day, it’s really something that the whole of the band have talked about over the years, and it’s not something that’s voted for by your fans, although they do open it up to its fans to be voted in. At the end of the day, it’s the board that decide. And so that kind of puts a bit of a question mark about the authenticity of fans voting you in. But, yeah, it’s still, in my book, something that’s a great accolade to even be considered again.
Nicko agreed when one of the interviewees noted that many performers are aging and dying before they had the opportunity to be admitted into the Rock Hall.
There is that. I mean, mind you, if you think to yourself, there’s so many great bands out there that have not been inducted or even nominated over the years, and as you say, certain members are getting along in the tooth or passing away, and you look back and go, in retrospect, man, these guys should have been [inducted] and they weren’t. But, yeah, it’s something that there’s a lot of controversy over it, and there has been.
Nicko added this, seemingly in reference to the removal of Jann Wenner from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s board of directors in 2023 for remarks deemed to be demeaning to black and female musicians. Wenner was a co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine and the Hall’s board of directors. Wenner had long been accused of prejudice against metal, prog-rock, and other genres.
And if somebody that was very controversial is no longer a part of the voting board as such, then who knows where it may go? As I said, for me personally, it’s a lovely accolade to have, but one that it’s steeped with controversy in terms of what the Maiden camp feel.
