Kerry King questions why Slayer still hasn’t been inducted into the Rock Hall

Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981 by the guitarist Kerry King, bassist/singer Tom Araya, drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Jeff Hanneman. They became one of the biggest Thrash Metal bands of all time and inspired countless generations of heavy Rock musicians all over the world.

However, like most Heavy Metal bands, Slayer still was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kerry King talked about that in a interview with Billboard Brasil.

Kerry King questions why Slayer still hasn’t been inducted into the Rock Hall

“Why don’t we see them there yet? [Laughs] I don’t know. We’ve never even been on the nomination list, so I don’t know what they’re waiting for. How many more decades do we have to play? Forty years isn’t enough, I guess. I don’t know. We’ll see. I went to (Rock Hall museum in Cleveland, Ohio) thinking I’d be there for, like, a half hour. I didn’t go there until like 10, 15 years ago. It took me a while. And I’m, like, ‘Eh, I’ll go check it out for maybe like a half hour.’ I was in there for four hours, and there’s a lot of cool stuff in there.”

“Is it something that’s gonna make my career complete? Absolutely not. If my parents were alive, I would be stoked if we got in there so I can say, ‘Hey, mom, I’m in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.’ That would be cool. To me, if it happens, it happens, ’cause, obviously, the voting process and the election process is a little faulty. So we’ll see. And me here badmouthing it probably isn’t helping my situation.” [Laughs]

He continued:

“If we ever got nominated and the fans elected us to be in, it would be honorable, for sure. Just to say these kids from Los Angeles got together and ripped the world a new fucking asshole. Yeah, we were part of it (the Heavy Metal evolution), for sure. There was a movement of a lot of bands, ironically at the same time, that came out and then put Thrash on the map,” Kerry King said.

Some of the few Heavy Metal bands and artists who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were Black Sabbath, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest.

The legendary guitarist is currently touring with his solo band, promoting his debut album “From Hell I Rise” (2024) and also playing a few shows with Slayer, since they reunited last year for some festival dates.