Dee Snider criticizes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was established back in 1983 by Ahmet Ertegun, founder and chairman of Atlantic Records. Since then, every year new groups and artists are inducted into the list and a big ceremony is made to pay tribute to those musicians.

However, over the years a lot of criticism had involved those inductions, since many artists who can be labeled as Rock and Roll are being included. Meanwhile important groups like Iron Maiden, Badfinger, Blue Öyster Cult, Bon Jovi and Boston are still out of it.

In an interview with “On The Road To Rock” (Transcribed by Blabbermouth), the Twisted Sister vocalist Dee Snider criticized the Rock Hall for including artists that are not from the Rock and Roll genre.

Dee Snider criticizes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

“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 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…”

Dee Snider continued:

“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…”

“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,” Dee Snider said.

Twisted Sister is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but in 2023 they were inducted into the Metal Hall of Fame, which is another institution that is not linked to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.