Ex-IRON MAIDEN Guitarist DENNIS STRATTON On Whether He Will Attend ROCK HALL Induction: 'The Decision Lies With The Band And With The Management'

In an interview with "Rock Talk", the newly launched podcast from longtime Serbian hard rock/heavy metal journalist Jadranka Janković Nešić, former IRON MAIDEN guitarist Dennis Stratton spoke about the band's upcoming induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Dennis, who played with the emerging NWOBHM act from December 1979 until October 1980, and appeared on MAIDEN's No. 4-charting self-titled debut album, will be inducted into the Hall Of Fame alongside the band's current lineup of singer Bruce Dickinson, bassist Steve Harris and guitarists Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers, as well as ex-singers Paul Di'Anno and Blaze Bayley and former drummers Nicko McBrain and Clive Burr. IRON MAIDEN will miss the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony this fall, the band's manager Rod Smallwood confirmed, because MAIDEN has dates scheduled in Australia this November.

Asked how he feels about finally being inducted into the Rock Hall, Dennis said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, absolutely, absolutely over the moon, to be honest. I remember back many years ago — I think it was 2020 — that we were in lockdown and I spoke to Steve. Steve was stuck at home as usual, and we were stuck at home, and we were discussing it then."

Referencing the fact that 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", Stratton continued: "Yes, I have to respect what Bruce said, and Bruce's statement, the band are behind him, and I suppose the management are. So, still being part of that lineup for the induction, then I have to go along with it. I have to respect their decision [about whether or not to appear in person to accept the award]. And it got a little bit silly because every year we were nominated, there was this sort of silence and standoff between whatever politics are involved. And basically, I just give up, because, basically, it's nothing to do with me. I'm not in the band, but I'm still involved with the lineup [that is being inducted], as you know. And this year, when we were nominated again, and I thought, 'Oh, here we go again,' and it's great to be nominated again, but we're not gonna have it. We're not gonna accept it. And then when I saw Rod — I think it was Rod Smallwood's press release on social media saying that we were actually inducted by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, it looks like the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame decided that, 'Okay, we're gonna induct them anyway. And if they don't want it, there's not a lot we can do.' But for me, still being included in the induction was absolutely fantastic."

Dennis added: "I've said it before, after all the 50 years, or how many years it's been, of hard work of struggling playing and the hard work and the long miles and the no sleep and everything else, we've all been through it. And to get the icing on the cake at the end of your career, it's got to be absolutely fantastic. And that's how I feel. But, again, I have to say that the decision lies with the band and with the management, and whatever decision they make, I will respect that. It'd be absolutely fantastic for me, Nicko and Blaze to accept the award on their behalf, but I don't know whether or not that will happen. I don't know whether or not someone else will accept the award, like Rod. It's out of our hands, really. It's not our decision. But I'm so glad for the fans. I know the fans don't really care — with the the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, a lot of them don't — but I'm glad for the fans, the fact that we're now inducted and the argument, hopefully, will now be put to bed and everyone can move on. I don't know who's gonna accept it, but I can't help being excited, the fact that I'd like to accept the award and hopefully get something that I can put indoors in home and show the grandchildren. Let's hope. I know Nicko likes a party, as [DEF LEPPARD's] Joe Elliott said on Planet Rock. But I don't know. Let's wait and see. They may have a change of heart. They may say, 'Send them over. We don't care, but send them over and get it.' But I will wait and see. If not, if Rod does go and get it, I hope he remembers me and I get something like a little trophy or a little plaque just to put on the wall at home. And for me, that's the mark of probably the end of my career, that I've finally been inducted in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame."

Dennis also talked about MAIDEN's recently released feature documentary, titled "Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition", which hit theaters for a limited time only beginning May 7, 2026. Directed by Malcolm Venville ("Churchill At War") and produced by Dominic Freeman ("Spirits In The Forest - A Depeche Mode Film"),"Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition" charts IRON MAIDEN's remarkable five‑decade journey. Dennis, who got an opportunity to see "Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition" for the first time at the film's world premiere on May 5 at Cineworld Leicester Square in London, England and then again two days later in Belgrade, Serbia, said about the documentary: "In Leicester Square, I felt a little bit let down. I imagine it mostly is because the main guys [from the band] were there, the guys I played with. Well, not Adrian and Blaze, but the guys were there. And so you do take a bit of a back step from everyone. I still met a lot of people, still went on the red carpet. But it was nice to see everyone in Leicester Square. We didn't imagine that the band would be there. We were told that they're probably busy getting ready for the tour and whatever.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the film for the fans," he continued. "I personally thought, even watching it twice, it's a pity that certain little things at the beginning were left out, they were cut out. But a two-hour film, I suppose you can't have everything, and the attention has to be on the lineup now and how they progress now as they get older. It was nice to see some of the old clips from the old days. I just wish they'd included a little bit more from the older days. But, as I say, it's about them. They didn't make it. It's a company that made the film."

After Jadranka noted that a lot of MAIDEN fans expected to see the film focus more on the band's earlier days so it can be explained to the new generation how MAIDEN started and how everything was at that time, Dennis concurred. "Yeah, absolutely," he said. "I have been told that many, many times on Internet, on social media and by the fans and friends. But I imagine what the company that were making the film thought was that maybe because there's so many books around on IRON MAIDEN and the beginning of IRON MAIDEN and the start of the band, most of the fans had read how it all formed with me joining the band and me coming into the band and bringing Clive, and also bringing my harmony guitar technique that I used in previous bands. That's all in the books. So I imagine that the film company might have thought, 'Well, they already know about that sort of thing. We don't need to explain all that again, and it's not as important as this is now.' I don't really know. I would have liked them to have maybe just spent a little bit more time [on the beginning of IRON MAIDEN]."

"Rock Talk" can be watched on Jadranka Janković Nešić's official YouTube channel at this location.

While MAIDEN has been eligible to join the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame since 2004, the band had only been nominated twice before — in 2021 and 2023.

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 MOTÖRHEAD have yet to be recognized by the institution, which inducted GUNS N' ROSES in that group's first year of eligibility.

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.

After he made his original comments about the Rock Hall in 2018, Bruce 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."

Dennis contributed significantly to such MAIDEN classics as "Phantom Of The Opera", "Running Free" and the band's eponymous anthem "Iron Maiden".

Formed in East London in 1975, IRON MAIDEN has grown into one of the world's most influential and enduring rock bands. Across 50 years, they have released 17 studio albums, sold over 100 million records, and performed almost 2,500 concerts across 64 countries.