Former Iron Maiden guitarist Dennis Stratton has openly shared his excitement over the band’s upcoming induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, while clarifying that he will respect the group’s decision to skip the ceremony. The heavy metal titans will miss the fall induction event due to their ongoing tour commitments in Australia, a move recently confirmed by their longtime manager Rod Smallwood.
Dennis Stratton, who performed with the pioneering New Wave of British Heavy Metal group from late 1979 until October 1980, played a significant role on their No. 4-charting self-titled debut album, Iron Maiden. He will be formally inducted alongside the band’s current lineup consisting of singer Bruce Dickinson, bassist Steve Harris, and guitarists Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, and Janick Gers, as well as former singers Paul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley, drummer Nicko McBrain, and the late former drummer Clive Burr.
Speaking in a new interview with the “Paulieflix” channel on YouTube, the guitarist clarified one of the interviewer’s remarks that he had previously tried to rally fan votes despite Bruce Dickinson famously dismissing the institution as an “utter and complete load of bollocks.”
“Well, not really. Unfortunately, I was already told by the gods above that Maiden didn’t want it. So I understood that,” Stratton explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “A lot of people, a lot of magazines and a lot of people that quote you can actually twist things to their advantage. And it makes me look stupid. And you gotta remember, I talk to Steve [Harris] all the time… And it was 2020. It was in lockdown. And I realized that Bruce had said these things, and the band were backing him. Fine. It’s nothing to do with me. All I would say on social media is I’m over the moon to be nominated. It’s something that I feel, after all the years that I’ve worked, I’ve done, not got very far, but I wouldn’t change anything, but it’s something that you should be proud of, and an achievement that most musicians would give their right arm for.”
He emphasized that if the band truly wanted the accolade, their massive international fanbase would have easily secured it for them without question.
“I’ve been nominated. Okay. Next quote, if the band are not interested, I have to go along with their decision. It’s nothing to do with me. The band decide with the management, and whatever they decide, I respect their decision. End of. Then it got a little bit silly, because every year — ’21, ’22, whatever it was — Iron Maiden have been nominated again. So I get thousands of messages on Messenger, on Facebook and Instagram, ‘Oh, well, congratulations.’ ‘Yes. Thank you very…’ So it’s like Groundhog Day. So you get to the point where, yes, ‘I appreciate all your concerns.’ People say, ‘It’s not worth voting for ’em because they don’t want it.’ And all I’ve said before is if they wanted it, if Maiden wanted to go into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, the votes from South America alone would’ve took them into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It doesn’t matter about the rest of the world. The fans in South America, the fans over there — there’s millions of them — they would’ve voted Maiden in without anyone else in the world voting, but they didn’t want it. So the same rules apply. Whatever the band decides, I respect that decision. That’s done,” he continued.
Despite the band’s collective stance, Stratton admitted that the official induction remains a monumental personal milestone, and he hopes a compromise can be found so that a representative might attend on the band’s behalf.
“So then this year, this summer, somewhere along the line, I suppose, to call an end to the feud or all the bad chatter and whatever, and what Bruce has called them or whatever, it’s still nothing to do with me, but at the end of the day, I see on social media, and I’m getting texts from all over the world saying, ‘Congratulations. You have been accepted and inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.’ Great. Love it. It’s my dream come true. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go because I have to respect the band’s decision… And so I’ll wait… And so [there was a] nice little message from Rod on social media, ‘Thank you for inducting us into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Unfortunately, the band will be in [Australia].’ Fine. If that’s their decision, then I respect it and I have to go along with it. Nothing to say about how excited I am. I have my own feelings. So does probably Blaze. And so does Nicko. But at the end of the day, if no one’s gonna go and accept the award, then no one goes. I think that they should send someone. Other bands have done it. So send a representative. Send Nicko, or send me, Blaze and Nicko and let us enjoy the day. There’s a way around it to keep the peace.”
Stratton continued: “I can’t help being excited and over the moon that I’ve been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It’s something to tell the grandchildren. But if the band don’t want it, and they don’t wanna accept it, or they don’t want to turn up, that’s their decision and I have to respect that. And so it goes round in circles like Groundhog Day. But yes, I’ve not hid the fact that I am excited, and I would love to go. Whether I can or can’t is not my decision. But I would like to go. I think so would Blaze in the end. And if we can’t go, then thank you anyway for being inducted, and I do hope somewhere along the line I get something to show the grandchildren, to put up on the wall.”
When asked if he could simply attend the ceremony independently as a spectator, the guitarist strongly shot down the idea of going behind the management’s back. He noted that he prefers to wait for official communication, similar to how he was formally invited by Dave Shack from the Iron Maiden management team to attend the band’s recent documentary premiere.
“Well, I imagine so, but you wouldn’t go behind the band’s back or behind the management’s back and create even more friction. What I’d like to think would happen is that we may get a call or an e-mail or something from the Maiden office to say, ‘Look, this is the situation.’ And same as when we did the [Maiden documentary] film premiere [earlier in the month]. Dave Shack from the Maiden office phones me, he said, ‘Look, they want you to go to the premiere. Are you free?’ I went, ‘Yeah. Lovely. Thank you. I’m proud to be there on the red carpet. Lovely.’ But ’cause this is so important and it’s near the end of your career and you’re not gonna be playing much past the end of 75, 76 up to the age of 80. Who knows? But to go there and feel the atmosphere and the glitter and the hype, yeah, who wouldn’t wanna go? But I can’t just go… But it would be nice … If they’re not interested and they’re gonna be in Australia anyway, and Rod doesn’t wanna go, I can’t see the problem of why we can’t go. But as I say, again, I’m fed up repeating these words every year. It is the band’s decision. And I respect that. If no one goes, I have to accept that,” he concluded.
Iron Maiden‘s induction follows years of eligibility, having only been nominated twice before in 2021 and 2023, where they finished fourth in the fan vote. Even though artists become eligible 25 years after the release of their first album, the institution has historically been slow to recognize heavy metal.
Bruce Dickinson has been highly critical of the Rock Hall in the past. In 2018, he famously stated:
“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.
“Rock and 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.”
Steve Harris also told Rolling Stone earlier that the exclusion didn’t bother him.
“I don’t mind that we’re not in things like that. I don’t think about things like that. It’s very nice if people give you awards or accolades, but we didn’t get into the business for that sort of thing. I’m certainly not going to lose sleep if we don’t get any sort of award, not just that one, any award. I don’t think we deserve to have this or that necessarily. With what we do, whatever comes of it is great. Whatever doesn’t come of it is great, too.”
