BLAZE BAYLEY's Name Added To List Of IRON MAIDEN Members Nominated For ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME Induction

Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 25 years ago, has been added to the list of members of the legendary British heavy metal band who are nominated for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's Class Of 2026.

On February 25, when the Rock And Roll Hall Of Hame revealed its diverse 17-strong list of acts nominated for induction in 2026, IRON MAIDEN was once again included in what marked the band's third nomination, after previously failing to get in back in 2021 and 2023.

At the time of this year's nominee announcement, Bayley's name was excluded from the list of the individual MAIDEN bandmembers who were nominated, despite the fact that he sang for IRON MAIDEN for five years and appeared on two of the group's studio albums — 1995's "The X Factor" and 1998's "Virtual XI". The MAIDEN musicians initially listed on the Rock Hall web site to potentially be inducted were singer Bruce Dickinson, bassist Steve Harris, drummer Nicko McBrain, and guitarists Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers, along with former guitarist Dennis Stratton, former singer Paul Di'Anno and former drummer Clive Burr.

In recent days, MAIDEN fans have noticed that a change was made on the Rock Hall web site adding Bayley's name to the list of musicians would get the nod if the band was to get inducted into the institution.

Back in March 2021, when MAIDEN was first nominated for the Rock Hall, Bayley was asked by Brazil's "Heavy Culture" what his reaction is to being excluded from the Rock Hall nomination. He responded: "Well, it's not the decision of the band. It's nothing to do with IRON MAIDEN, and it's nothing to do with IRON MAIDEN management. So it's all the people who run the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

"The most important thing to me is my friendship with the guys in IRON MAIDEN, and still being friends after so many years," he continued.

"I don't really care if I'm in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame or I'm not in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame," Blaze said. "For me, I'm famous, and I don't have to be any more famous. I have wonderful fans in Brazil and Portugal and around the world, and that is enough for me, man. My fans support me and make this life possible. I live my dream because of my fans and their support — not because of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame."

The two MAIDEN albums Blaze appeared on sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's "Killers".

Having been eligible for induction since 2005, IRON MAIDEN is one of the biggest bands on the planet. Since the release of their self-titled debut album, the British heavy metal legends have released a further 16 full-length studio records, and sold over 100 million copies.

Rock Hall rules state that artists become eligible a quarter century after their first records were released, but the Hall also claims that other "criteria include the influence and significance of the artists' contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock 'n' roll," which is, of course, open to interpretation.

Eligible for induction since 1999, KISS didn't get its first nomination until 2009, and was finally inducted in 2014.

DEEP PURPLE was eligible for the Rock Hall since 1993 but didn't get inducted until 2016.

The official 2026 inductees will be announced in April, along with the "Musical Influence" and "Musical Excellence" awards, as well as the "Ahmet Ertegun Award" reserved for a prolific music industry veteran.

Nominees are being voted on by more than 1,200 artists, historians and music industry professionals.

The only metal or metal-adjacent acts to have made it into the Rock Hall so far have been BLACK SABBATH, LED ZEPPELIN, METALLICA, AC/DC, JUDAS PRIEST, KISS, VAN HALEN, RUSH, GUNS N' ROSES, Ozzy Osbourne and DEEP PURPLE.

IRON MAIDEN finished in the fourth place in the fan vote for the 2023 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction class.

Seven years ago, Harris said that he didn't care that his band had yet to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame despite the fact that it had been eligible since 2004.

"I don't mind that we're not in things like that," he told Rolling Stone in an interview. "I don't think about things like that. It's very nice if people give you awards or accolades, but we didn't get into the business for that sort of thing. I'm certainly not going to lose sleep if we don't get any sort of award, not just that one, any award. I don't think we deserve to have this or that necessarily. With what we do, whatever comes of it is great. Whatever doesn't come of it is great, too."

Dickinson made headlines in 2018 when he referred to the Rock Hall as "an utter and complete load of bollocks" during a spoken-word gig in Australia, insisting that the Cleveland-based institution is "run by a bunch of sanctimonious bloody Americans who wouldn't know rock and roll if it hit them in the face."

Bruce later told The Jerusalem Post that he was "so annoyed with that coverage because they took my statement out of context to make it seem like I was upset that we weren't in the Hall Of Fame.

"I'm really happy we're not there and I would never want to be there," he continued. "If we're ever inducted, I will refuse — they won't bloody be having my corpse in there.

"Rock and roll music does not belong in a mausoleum in Cleveland," Bruce added. "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."

Harris previously told "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon" that he wasn't concerned about whether IRON MAIDEN would eventually be inducted into the Rock Hall. "I don't really think about it, to be honest. I think awards are things that are nice to have when you get them, but it's not something you're really striving for — it's not what it's about it," he said. "It's never been about that. It's aways been about just trying to make good music and go out and play good live shows, and that's it, really. Hopefully people will appreciate it. It's probably nice when people give you awards — don't get me wrong; I think it's great — but it's not something that you would lose sleep over if you didn't get any.

"It's the way that I am," Harris added. "I don't know. Maybe the rest of the guys [in the band] might think differently to me, but that's the way I think. It's not that I don't care about [awards]. It's just… And it's not that they're not meaningful when you do get 'em — it's nice. But I certainly don't worry about it or anything like that. I think other people are the ones that make a bigger deal out of it than us, about whether we got one or not."