Rock & Roll Hall of Fame CEO defends Iron Maiden exclusion

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame CEO Greg Harris has defended Iron Maiden's omission from the 2021 list of inductees.

While the rockers were included in the list of nominees for the Class Of 2021 in February, they were notably absent when the list of inductees, who included Foo Fighters, Tina Turner, and JAY-Z, was announced last week.

Amid a backlash from fans of the group, Harris spoke to the WBAB radio station, insisting nobody is questioning the band's impact on the music industry - but they missed out in this year's vote.

"There's no doubt that Iron Maiden are an impactful, influential band, and that's why they were nominated this year, along with 15 other artists and acts, and when the votes came in, these six were the leaders," he said. "So we're not questioning, are they an important band, are they impactful and influential.

"Of those that have been nominated throughout history, over 80 per cent of them have been eventually inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. So everybody has their favourites; everybody has different artists that impacted them or impacted other artists. So, if you look at this list, you can make that case for all of these folks, just like people make that case for Iron Maiden."

Harris was also asked about whether the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should be renamed - to become the Music Hall of Fame - as in recent years acts inducted have often come from genres other than rock.

"I think to get to the core of it, people like the stuff that's closest to them, and I think they need to expand their thinking of rock and roll," he replied. "It's a big tent and everybody fits under it. It's an attitude, it's a spirit, and that's rock and roll."