DEE SNIDER Once Again Blasts ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME: 'They're Elitist Mothereffers'

Dee Snider has once again said that the heavy metal genre isn't respected enough by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

In a brand new interview with Clint Switzer of On The Road To Rock, the TWISTED SISTER singer spoke about the Rock Hall's decision to broaden the musical scope of the artists it has inducted, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "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… 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," Dee continued. "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."

Even though artists are eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single, iconic hard rock and metal bands like IRON MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD have yet to be recognized by the institution, which inducted GUNS N' ROSES in that group's first year of eligibility.

IRON MAIDEN was on the ballot for the second time this year, but the institution's voters snubbed them once again.

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 and DEEP PURPLE.

IRON MAIDEN finished in the fourth place in the fan vote for this year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction class.

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.