How Much Does MÖTLEY CRÜE Care About Being Inducted Into ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME?

Despite MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx's recent claim that if his band was ever honored into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, he would decline the nomination, CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee seems a little more receptive to the idea of being inducted as part of the organization's annually held ceremony.

"I do give a shit about it, because it's a time-stamp," Lee tells RollingStone.com. "It's the acknowledgement of your peers and fans and the music industry. But then again, there's a part of me that goes, 'If we don't, that's fucking cool, too.'"

He continues: "In my heart, I know that we came, we saw, we kicked its fucking ass; I don't need a pat on the back, or an induction, or another platinum album or two. Maybe I'm just not good with compliments."

For his part, MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars seems mostly indifferent to the idea of getting the Rock Hall nod. He tells the magazine: "Honestly, I don't think it'll happen. We were there when the thing was being built; we had to wear hard hats while we were walking around the building site. They were like, 'One of these days, you guys will be in here!' Right. [Laughs]"

He continues: "I'd have to say, 80 percent no, 20 percent yeah. But it's like when you're a kid in kindergarten, and you take a nap and get a gold star as a reward. I don't need a few handful of people to say that I got a gold star, because I already got it from my fans. I see the crowds, I see the enthusiasm, I see all that stuff, and that's already satisfying enough for me."

To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination.

Iconic hard rock and metal bands like MÖTLEY CRÜE (which has been eligible since 2006),DEEP PURPLE, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST have yet to be recognized by the Rock Hall, which inducted GUNS N' ROSES in that group's first year of eligibility.

"I'm not one of these cranky guys about it," Sixx tells RollingStone.com. "But I think if they got it a little bit righter, people would respect it a little bit more. Honestly, there are a lot of bands previous to MÖTLEY CRÜE that deserve to be in, if it's actually about influencing other musicians and making an impact on the planet. You know, the bands that have gotten in the last few years, it's cool; but let's go back and look at the people who curated this great music a little bit more. I mean, I'm a huge MOTT THE HOOPLE fan; if MÖTLEY CRÜE got in before MOTT THE HOOPLE, I'd snap! [Laughs] I'd be like, 'I'm sorry, but Ian Hunter, this is for you!'"

DEEP PURPLE, which has been eligible for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for two decades now , was denied entry to the Rock Hall in 2013 — losing out to such artists as American pop singer-songwriter Randy Newman and R&B singer Donna Summer.

KISS, which was passed over by the Hall since 1998 before finally getting the nod last April, took its long-overdue induction with a grain of salt, with frontman Paul Stanley telling Classic Rock that it felt like a case of a little too little and a little too late to mean anything for him.