GODSMACK's SULLY ERNA On Hypothetical ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME Induction: 'We Would Be So Grateful'

In a new interview with Taryn Daly of Audacy Check In, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna was asked for this thoughts on his band being eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this year and possibly one day being inducted. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it would feel great, I know that, to know that you're acknowledged in the industry.

"I've always felt like we were kind of the band that flew under a lot of the radar, because we were never a part of the MTV clique or the things that were blowing up during the times when the band was first coming out with our first album," Sully continued. "So we always considered ourselves the little engine that could. We came out and just chugged along and we did what we did every album, and these other big bands, big steam engines would come blowing by us and sell 15 million records. And we were always, like, 'Man, what are we doing wrong.' But up the road, we would see those bands break down and go away, and here comes the little engine that could, and we'd keep chugging along and do our million records every cycle or whatever it was, and that's something to be said for. It's hard these days to be able to continue to sell records in this digital world that's been created.

"So, if we were acknowledged in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at some point — which, by the way, '98 was our first record release, so this is our 25th year since the first record came out but 28 years since we started the band," Erna added. "And I don't know if they judge it by first record coming out or when the band was created, but either way, I guess we're there. And if that happened — amazing. I mean, we would be so grateful."

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.

The Rock Hall didn't induct BLACK SABBATH until 2006, and METALLICA followed three years later.

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.

IRON MAIDEN is among the nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's Class Of 2023.

To be eligible for this year's ballot, each nominee's first single or album had to have been released in 1998 or earlier.

This is the second nomination for IRON MAIDEN.

The 2023 class will be chosen by a group of over 1,000 artists, historians, and members of the music industry the Rock Hall has selected as voters.