Well holy crap, Iron Maiden and Soundgarden might make it into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame this year! Fan voting just closed and both Iron Maiden and Soundgarden landed in the top 5, beating out such artists as The White Stripes, Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, and unfortunately Rage Against The Machine. The top 5 are:
- George Michael with 1,040,872 votes
- Cyndi Lauper with 928,113 votes
- Warren Zevon with 634,130 votes
- Iron Maiden with 449,682 votes
- Soundgarden with 427,020 votes
However, this doesn't mean that Iron Maiden and Soundgarden are shoe-ins for the Rock Hall's Class of 2023. The fan vote is only one part of the final vote from members of the Hall, which will be tallied this month.
To be eligible for the Rock Hall's Class of 2023, artists must have released their first single or album in 1998 or earlier. Iron Maiden released their self-titled debut album in 1980, meaning they've been eligible for 18 years at this point; Soundgarden isn't that much younger, having released their debut EP Screaming Life in 1987.
Iron Maiden's members that will potentially be inducted are Clive Burr, Paul Di’Anno, Bruce Dickinson, Janick Gers, Steve Harris, Nicko McBrain, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Dennis Stratton. Iron Maiden was previously nominated in 2021, and were snubbed hard enough that the CEO had to address the issue. Even Kiss was pissed about the issue.
Soundgarden's members for induction are potentially Matt Cameron, Chris Cornell, Ben Shepherd, Kim Thayil, and Hiro Yamamoto. Soundgarden has only been nominated once before in 2020. Both Soundgarden's nominations have come after the passing of Cornell in 2017.
Rage Against The Machine has been nominated for the Rock Hall in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and now 2023 to no avail. There's always another try in 2024, right?
