MATTHIAS JABS Says SCORPIONS 'Deserve A Spot' In ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

SCORPIONS guitarist Matthias Jabs says that his band "deserves a spot" in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

The German hard rockers, who been eligible for the honor since 1997, had been the decade-long international long shot when their 1982 album, "Blackout", blew up Top 10 in the U.S., powered by the No. 1 rock radio track "No One Like You". The band's follow-up LP, "Love At First Sting", two years later soared to No. 6 on the Billboard album chart with triple-platinum sales while delivering a blitzkrieg of rock anthems, including "Rock You Like A Hurricane", "Big City Nights" and the signature power ballad "Still Loving You".

Asked for his thoughts on the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and whether he thinks SCORPIONS should finally get the nod, Jabs told Tigman of the Q103 radio station in Albany, New York (hear audio below): "I've been, I think, at least to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland. I've heard many times, 'The SCORPIONS should be in there.' Especially if you see who else is in there, we would fit right in. And I think we've done enough over the last fifty years to deserve a spot. And it's not the time yet, but maybe one day. And, yeah, I wouldn't mind."

There haven't been that many metal or hard rock acts inducted into the Rock Hall: BLACK SABBATH, METALLICA, AC/DC, DEEP PURPLE, GUNS N' ROSES, VAN HALEN and LED ZEPPELIN, to name a few.

Rock Hall rules state that artists become eligible twenty-five years 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.

Despite being eligible for induction since 1999 — twenty-five years after the release of its first disc — 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 last year.

SCORPIONS kicked off their North American tour with MEGADETH on September 14 at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania. The sixteen-date trek, dubbed the "Crazy World Tour", celebrates SCORPIONS' 1990 LP of the same name. Two of the SCORPIONS' best-known songs, "Winds Of Change" and "Send Me An Angel", both appear on "Crazy World".

SCORPIONS have just finished recording a couple of new songs for a forthcoming compilation album that will collect the most popular of their ballad-type material.