Tom Morello: “If you’re a hard rock guitar player, you don’t care about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because none of your favourite bands are in there”
While the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame celebrates many legends, it’s not an exhaustive representation of rock music. If you ask Tom Morello, countless hard rock acts who haven’t yet been inducted are worthy of a spot in the Hall of Fame.
In a recent interview with Guitar World, the Rage Against The Machine legend argues that despite its name, the Rock Hall caters to many acts outside of the rock genre, too. “One thing that people get wrong is that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should be just for rock and roll bands,” he says. “That’s not what it’s for.”
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“Public Enemy is more rock ’n’ roll than 95 percent of all the hair metal bands that ever picked up an instrument, you know?” he says. “It’s music that has spirit to it… I think rock ’n’ roll should have a very, very broad sense. I think there’s room for a lot of different genres.”
Until recently, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame barely scratched the surface in terms of acts from rock’s expansive list of subgenres. “If you’re a hard rock guitar player, you don’t care about the Hall of Fame,” he argues. “None of your favourite bands are in there.”
If your favourite band happens to be Rage Against The Machine, even they weren’t recognised by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until last year.
Thankfully, Morello is trying to change this limited idea of who can be inducted into the Rock Hall. “A lot of great bands have gotten into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame more recently, in part because they’ve had stronger advocates in the room,” the guitarist explains. “I’m one of those advocates.”
“When I toured with Bruce Springsteen, at every hotel bar I’d make a case to his manager, John Landau, who’s on the nominating committee for the Hall of Fame,” he continues. “My argument was: if you’re a kid playing little league baseball, your dream is that you might one day end up in Cooperstown, in the Baseball Hall of Fame.”
Morello’s persistence played a huge part in getting Randy Rhoads posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021. He’s also pushed for Kiss, Rush, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Judas Priest to get the recognition they deserve. “I have to give credit to the Hall of Fame – they put me in the room because I complained so damn much!” he says.
“It really opened the door and people’s minds and hearts to the idea that it shouldn’t be such a precious curated thing, and that an entire genre of music was been overlooked,” he adds.
He’s got his sights set on getting Iron Maiden into the Hall of Fame next. “This year I’m all in on Maiden,” he insists. “I know they don’t care. [But] I don’t care that they don’t care, because I think it’s the place where they belong.”
One of the most recent additions to the Hall of Fame was Ozzy Osbourne, who was inducted in October. While he was formerly inducted in 2006 alongside Black Sabbath, this time he was honoured for his solo work.
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