PHILIP ANSELMO: 'It Would Be A Great Honor' If PANTERA Was Inducted Into ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

Philip Anselmo says that it "would be a great honor" if PANTERA was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

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

In a brand new interview with the 95.9 KRFF radio station, Anselmo was asked if he can foresee PANTERA — which has been eligible for induction since 2008 — one day getting the Rock Hall nod. He responded (hear audio below): "Man, I've had people ask me this very question, and I just… I don't even think about stuff like that, man; I really don't. I guess I know that the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is kind of a difficult thing [and] they have their own rules and they have their own little… I mean, I don't know — I don't really know too much about it. But I would not be surprised. And if we made it, I don't know how I'd feel, man. I mean, it's a great honor — it would be a great honor."

Anselmo was also asked if he had any idea, when he first joined PANTERA, that the band would develop into such an influential and ground-breaking metal outfit. He said: "Man, I was so blinded by just getting up on a stage and doing what we had to do, and then, of course, running into a recording session and just doing all the records and doing all the hands-on stuff. I never even halfway imagined all those things that you brought up, man. I still consider myself the dude who's out in the audience as well and watching bands play, collecting bands, listening to music. I still feel like the fan. And I am — don't get me wrong. But so many different people come up to me with their own individual stories about what PANTERA has meant to their life and what it's done for their lives. And it's overwhelming, man. And I'm stunned, amazed and gasping for air every single time."

Back in 2014, PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott said that he didn't think his band would ever get inducted into the Rock Hall. "It's already been proven there are tons of travesties that have gone on with that place," he explained to AL.com. "How in the world did it take forever to get BLACK SABBATH in there? Honestly, I don't think PANTERA will ever get in there. But if we do, I'm going to embrace it just like anything else. I've actually been there and heavy metal is barely even represented in the place, so I wouldn't expect that to happen."

Vinnie Paul and his brother "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

Vinnie Paul passed died in June 2018 at his home in Las Vegas at the age of 54.