In a new interview with U.K. radio veteran Paul Stephenson of VRP Rocks, BAD COMPANY drummer Simon Kirke shared his thoughts on the band’s long-overdue nomination for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame—finally arriving in February 2025 after decades of eligibility. While Kirke expressed gratitude and excitement, he also revealed a candid and fiery reaction from a fellow British rock legend.
“Well, it’s the first time we’ve been nominated,” Kirke said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), “and a very good friend of mine is Nicko McBrain from IRON MAIDEN. He sent me a congratulatory text. He said, ‘By the way, Simon, MAIDEN have been nominated 11 f**king times and we haven’t been inducted ever. So our management wrote to the Hall Of Fame and said, ‘Stop nominating us. Bollocks. F**k off.’”
“What can I say? If I was truly honest, I would say it’s about time because we’ve been around for so long,” Simon continued. “And hello? How about FREE, which superseded BAD COMPANY? A lot of people have a lot of affection for FREE.
Despite being eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25 years after launching their first album or single, legendary hard rock and metal groups such as MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD have not yet received acknowledgement from the organization, which inducted GUNS N’ ROSES during their initial year of eligibility.
In 2018, MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson described Rock Hall as “an utter and complete load of bollocks run by a bunch of sanctimonious bloody Americans who wouldn’t know rock and roll if it hit them in the face.”
MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris previously told Rolling Stone that he doesn’t care that his band has yet to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame despite the fact that it has been eligible since 2004.
“I don’t mind that we’re not in things like that. I don’t think about things like that,” Harris said. “It’s very nice if people give you awards or accolades, but we didn’t get into the business for that sort of thing. I’m certainly not going to lose sleep if we don’t get any sort of award, not just that one, any award. I don’t think we deserve to have this or that necessarily. With what we do, whatever comes of it is great. Whatever doesn’t come of it is great, too.”
Source: metaladdicts.com
