Yahoo Finance Gene Simmons slams Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for Rage Against the Machine, Iron Maiden snubs
Gene Simmons is not happy Iron Maiden and Rage Against the Machine didn't make the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of 2021 inductees announced on Wednesday. Both groups were nominated for the honor in February.
Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images; Gie Knaeps/Getty Images (2) Gene Simmons feels Rage Against the Machine and Iron Maiden should be honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
"RR Hall of Fame is a sham not to include Maiden. Disgusting!" he tweeted.
He continued in a second post, "Sadly, Rage Against The Machine shut out of RR Hall of Fame. The Hall should be ashamed of themselves…."
Sadly, Rage Against The Machine shut out of RR Hall of Fame. The Hall should be ashamed of themselves….
— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) May 13, 2021
Musicians become eligible for the Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album. Iron Maiden has been eligible since 2004, while Rage Against the Machine has been eligible since 2017.
A representative for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame didn't immediately respond to EW's request for comment.
This year's honorees include Jay-Z, Tina Turner, the Foo Fighters, the Go-Go's, Carole King, LL Cool J, Charley Patton, Kraftwerk, Randy Rhoads, Clarence Avant, and Gil Scott-Heron.
Both Jay-Z and the Foo Fighters made the cut during their first year of eligibility. The addition of Turner, King, and the Go-Go's to the class of 2021 denotes the first time three female artists are inducted into the Performers category in a single class.
Simmons has previously shared his criticism of inductees. The controversial rocker got into a heated Twitter exchange with Ice Cube after the former said he's "looking forward to the death of rap" in response to N.W.A.'s 2014 induction, the same year Simmons and his group Kiss were also honored.
Ice Cube made a case as to why N.W.A. is rock and roll saying, in part, that "Rock and roll is not an instrument, rock and roll is not even a style of music. Rock and roll is a spirit." He further called out the contributions of Black artists Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Chubby Checker who are credited as pioneers of rock and roll. Cube said, "We invent it. Ya'll reprint it."
Simmons replied in a later tweet, "Respect NWA, but when Led Zep gets into Rap Hall of Fame, I will agree with your point."
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