Dee Snider slams the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – again: “They’re elitist mothereffers”
“The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame could have saved themselves a lot of problems by simply calling themselves the ‘Music Hall Of Fame’.”
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Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider has once again slammed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the “elitist mothereffers” who supposedly make its decisions.
In a new interview with On The Road To Rock, Snider argues that “The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame could have saved themselves a lot of problems by simply calling themselves the ‘Music Hall Of Fame’.”
“I lived on Long Island, and there’s a Long Island Music Hall Of Fame, and in there is Arlo Guthrie and Neil Diamond and Twisted Sister and Zebra is in there and Public Enemy’s in there and KISS is in there, because it’s music,” the singer explains.
“The minute you put that word on it, everybody’s, like, ‘Okay, I get it. It’s the Music Hall Of Fame. And these are great musicians.’ So by calling it the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, it positions itself to criticism, and the people who run that thing, it’s still Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone and Meg Griffin from WNEW in New York City, the hip radio station from the ’70s and ’60s. NEW has been off the air for decades…”
“These are the people who are the panel, the voting panel of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. So these old mothereffers are picking the stuff that they grew up with – they’re old. Of course they’re picking… And the minute they go and die – the sooner, the better, guys and girls; the sooner, the better – and they bring in some contemporary people… Again, they’ll either vote to change their name or they’ll just start acknowledging bands…”
Snider continues: “For me, sales do matter. Being beloved does matter. The amount of fans you have does matter. And they threw us a bone when they had the fans’ choice. This way they can say, ‘We didn’t pick Kiss. We didn’t pick Judas Priest.’ They’re elitist mothereffers.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the musician is far from the first – nor the only one – who has, of late, criticised the Rock Hall and its decisions surrounding the rock and metal genres.
Bruce Dickinson, frontman of metal heavyweights Iron Maiden, told Telegraph in a recent interview that he’s not a fan of the organisation, nor does he care about the approval of those who run it.
Asked how he feels about Iron Maiden being left out – once again – at the 2023 Rock Hall induction, Dickinson replied: “We don’t give a monkey’s.”
“Because the people that get us are not the people that run the music business establishment, whatever that is. Because that is largely run by people that can’t make a living doing anything else.”
Dee Snider’s comments come after he slammed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, calling the committee “arrogant elitist assholes” over lack of inducted metal bands.