Tom Morello Calls Out the “Most Egregious Oversight” in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame History: “I Will Chew My Leg Off”

Since starting his career in the late 1970s, Tom Morello found himself performing in bands like Prophets of Rage and even Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. But for most fans of Morello, they remember his time with Rage Against the Machine. Although the band struggled with creative differences over the years, the members perfectly molded songs that embraced rap, punk, funk, and heavy metal. And in 2023, Rage Against the Machine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. While thrilled about what the band accomplished, Morello recently revealed one of the most “egregious” decisions by the Rock Hall. 

Appearing on The Eddie Trunk Podcast, Morello discussed the impact Iron Maiden had on the heavy metal genre and how the Rock Hall has consistently snubbed the band. Not mixing his words, Morello insisted, “I will chew my leg off like a coyote in a trap if I can’t get Iron Maiden in. While there are many other deserving acts, Iron Maiden for me is the most egregious oversight in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

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Tom Morello Cares Even If Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson Doesn’t

Considering Iron Maiden “the gold standard” of heavy metal bands, Morello understood that the group’s singer Bruce Dickinson didn’t care much for the Rock Hall. But for Morello, “ I care as a fan. I care very, very much about it. So I’m gonna do all I can to get, [with] whatever limited influence I have, to get Iron Maiden in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.” 

As for Dickinson, he promised he would refuse any invitation to the Rock Hall. He told The Jerusalem Post back in 2018, “They won’t bloody be having my corpse in there. Rock & roll music does not belong in a mausoleum in Cleveland. It’s a living, breathing thing, and if you put it in a museum, then it’s dead. It’s worse than horrible, it’s vulgar.”

While Morello wants Iron Maiden in the Rock Hall and Dickinson could care less, the CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Greg Harris, shared some insight into the process. “The truth is, anybody that’s nominated, the odds are good that they’re eventually gonna get in. In fact, I think it may be as high as 90 percent eventually go in.” 

With Iron Maiden nominated before, it appears that it is only a matter of time before the band finds its way into the Rock Hall. Let’s hope Morello still has his leg when it happens.

(Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)