Tom Morello Vows to ‘Chew My Leg Off’ If Iron Maiden Doesn’t Get into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: ‘Egregious Oversight’

Tom Morello is ready to get Iron Maiden into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

“I will chew my leg off like a coyote in a trap if I can’t get Iron Maiden in,” Morello, 60, said in a recent appearance on The Eddie Trunk Podcast. “While there are many other deserving acts, Iron Maiden for me is the last most egregious oversight in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

“Iron Maiden is like the gold standard of metal bands and they’re not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And I know Bruce Dickinson said he doesn’t really care. Well, I care as a fan. I care very, very much about it. So I’m gonna do all I can to get, [with] whatever limited influence I have, to get Iron Maiden in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

The band has been eligible since 2005 and has been considered twice, both times not being voted in by the institution’s voters.

There is a chance if the band is ever inducted, they’d refuse. In a 2018 interview with The Jerusalem Post, Dickinson said, “I’m really happy we’re not there and I would never want to be there. If we’re ever inducted I will refuse – they won’t bloody be having my corpse in there.”

He laid out his gripes with the Hall of Fame, saying, “Rock & roll music does not belong in a mausoleum in Cleveland. 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.”

Original Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno’s death was confirmed on Oct. 21. In a follow-up statement shared to his Facebook page on Monday, Nov. 11, his family revealed his cause of death was “a tear in the sac around the heart and blood has filled inside it from the main aorta artery and that has caused the heart to stop.”

The band issued a statement in honor of the late singer, writing:

“We are all deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Paul Di’Anno earlier today. Paul’s contribution to Iron Maiden was immense and helped set us on the path we have been travelling as a band for almost five decades. His pioneering presence as a frontman and vocalist, both on stage and on our first two albums, will be very fondly remembered not just by us, but by fans around the world.”

Di’Anno’s replacement Dickinson admitted in an appearance on Rich Roll that a cancerous tumor on his tongue almost forced him to find his own replacement.

“I was quite prepared to accept that I might not be able to sing with Iron Maiden again,” Dickinson, 66, said. “I might be able to sing, I might be able to vocalize, I might be able to sing in a different way, but if I couldn’t sing the way I have to sing with Iron Maiden, I’ll help them find a great replacement. Because the music is sacrosanct.”