BLAZE BAYLEY's name added to list of IRON MAIDEN members nominated for ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME induction
30-03-2026
Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 25 years ago, has been added to the list of members of the legendary British heavy metal band who are nominated for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame‘s Class Of 2026.
On February 25, when the Rock And Roll Hall Of Hame revealed its diverse 17-strong list of acts nominated for induction in 2026, IRON MAIDEN was once again included in what marked the band’s third nomination, after previously failing to get in back in 2021 and 2023.
At the time of this year’s nominee announcement, Bayley‘s name was excluded from the list of the individual MAIDEN bandmembers who were nominated, despite the fact that he sang for IRON MAIDEN for five years and appeared on two of the group’s studio albums — 1995’s “The X Factor” and 1998’s “Virtual XI”. The MAIDEN musicians initially listed on the Rock Hall web site to potentially be inducted were singer Bruce Dickinson, bassist Steve Harris, drummer Nicko McBrain, and guitarists Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers, along with former guitarist Dennis Stratton, former singer Paul Di’Anno and former drummer Clive Burr.
In recent days, MAIDEN fans have noticed that a change was made on the Rock Hall web site adding Bayley‘s name to the list of musicians would get the nod if the band was to get inducted into the institution.
Back in March 2021, when MAIDEN was first nominated for the Rock Hall, Bayley was asked by Brazil’s “Heavy Culture” what his reaction is to being excluded from the Rock Hall nomination. He responded: “Well, it’s not the decision of the band. It’s nothing to do with IRON MAIDEN, and it’s nothing to do with IRON MAIDEN management. So it’s all the people who run the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
“The most important thing to me is my friendship with the guys in IRON MAIDEN, and still being friends after so many years,” he continued.
“I don’t really care if I’m in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame or I’m not in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame,” Blaze said. “For me, I’m famous, and I don’t have to be any more famous. I have wonderful fans in Brazil and Portugal and around the world, and that is enough for me, man. My fans support me and make this life possible. I live my dream because of my fans and their support — not because of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.”
The two MAIDEN albums Blaze appeared on sold considerably less than the band’s prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group’s home country since 1981’s “Killers”.
Having been eligible for induction since 2005, IRON MAIDEN is one of the biggest bands on the planet. Since the release of their self-titled debut album, the British heavy metal legends have released a further 16 full-length studio records, and sold over 100 million copies.
Rock Hall rules state that artists become eligible a quarter century 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.
Eligible for induction since 1999, 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 2016.
The official 2026 inductees will be announced in April, along with the “Musical Influence” and “Musical Excellence” awards, as well as the “Ahmet Ertegun Award” reserved for a prolific music industry veteran.
Nominees are being voted on by more than 1,200 artists, historians and music industry professionals.
The only metal or metal-adjacent acts to have made it into the Rock Hall so far have been BLACK SABBATH, LED ZEPPELIN, METALLICA, AC/DC, JUDAS PRIEST, KISS, VAN HALEN, RUSH, GUNS N’ ROSES, Ozzy Osbourne and DEEP PURPLE.
IRON MAIDEN finished in the fourth place in the fan vote for the 2023 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction class.
Seven years ago, Harris said that he didn’t care that his band had yet to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame despite the fact that it had been eligible since 2004.
“I don’t mind that we’re not in things like that,” he told Rolling Stone in an interview. “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.”
Dickinson made headlines in 2018 when he referred to the Rock Hall as “an utter and complete load of bollocks” during a spoken-word gig in Australia, insisting that the Cleveland-based institution is “run by a bunch of sanctimonious bloody Americans who wouldn’t know rock and roll if it hit them in the face.”
Bruce later told The Jerusalem Post that he was “so annoyed with that coverage because they took my statement out of context to make it seem like I was upset that we weren’t in the Hall Of Fame.
“I’m really happy we’re not there and I would never want to be there,” he continued. “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,” Bruce added. “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.”
Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 25 years ago, has recently announced that he will stop doing “meet-and-greets and signing” sessions at his solo concerts.
The 62-year-old musician, who underwent a quadruple bypass surgery following a heart attack in March 2023, explained his decision in a social media post. He wrote: “I have decided to stop doing free & included meet & greets & signing at my headline shows.
“This is a massive decision for me to take, mainly to protect my health following my open-heart surgery after a near fatal heart attack. But also, I feel I must protect my health as much as possible, prioritising my energy, focus & voice for the performances at shows where the highest standards are my aim.
“A further reason is the disappointment of seeing signed items appearing the very next day for sale on ebay & other auction sites after the meet & greets. This is in no-one’s best interests. So, there will be no signings in the foreseeable future.
“If you see me out & about & would like a selfie, that’s fine. Just say hello & get your phone or camera ready. That isn’t changing.
“After 25 years this is a massive decision for me to take. You are my inspiration and my comfort, my warriors & my friends & together we have moved the sun. I thank you so much for all your help & support over the years, & thank you in advance for understanding this very difficult decision.”
In a Septemer 2025 interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal’s Metal Global, former IRON MAIDEN singer Blaze Bayley once again opened up about his health — two and a half years after undergoing a quadruple bypass surgery following a heart attack in March 2023. The 62-year-old singer — who fronted MAIDEN more than two and a half decades ago — said: “Yeah. I’m so lucky, really. With heart disease, it’s one of those things, it creeps up on you. You just feel a bit out of breath here, and things are a bit more of a struggle there, and you don’t really start thinking too much about it, but it adds up over time and suddenly you’re having a heart attack. It’s, like, how did this happen?”
Reflecting on his heart attack, Blaze said: “The main thing, at the hospital, I’d just got in. They put you in this amazing room where they can X-ray you and look at all these things while other people are in the room and everything, and look at all. And they’re looking at it and go, ‘No, it’s not stents. It’s gonna need surgery. No, we can’t do anything for you here. Put you out on the ward. You wait for the surgeon.’
“I had a quadruple bypass, and I’ve made a good recovery,” he continued. “I had a little hiccup in my recovery because when I got well enough to exercise and it was safe to exercise, I had a knee injury, and that put me back about five months, really. But, yeah, apart from that, I’ve got my strength back now, and I’ve made a good recovery. They discovered that I did have an abnormal heart in that the left side was smaller and somehow it wasn’t working the best. And so the right side had been taking up the strain. And they said, with the new plumbing, I might feel an advantage. And I do — compared to what I was before, I’ve got a lot more energy.
“The worst part about it for me is the diet — trying to keep the weight off,” Bayley admitted. “I managed to lose a lot of weight with changing my habits and no exercise at all. I managed to lose 30 pounds with no exercise, just by eating sensible and the way that I should have been eating. Bad habits creep back, so I’m having to try again with that. But that’s about it. I stopped drinking a while ago, and it was difficult in the beginning, but gradually it’s less and less of a challenge over the years, and it was all right. And the diet, to try and stay healthy, it’s much tougher to give up chocolate, sugar, biscuits, donuts, sausage rolls, pies — it’s much tougher to give up that than to give up booze. I wasn’t a raging alcoholic, but with my mental health, I’m, like, ‘I’ve gotta stop drinking because I’ve drank enough. I’m old enough now. I don’t really need another drink.’ But then to stop eating pies and all these things — and I start feeling, ‘Oh, I feel great now. My knees feel better. Everything feels better now. I’ve lost all this weight.’ And then bit by bit, ‘Oh, I’ll just have that little treat.’ And then, ‘My God. I look just like I’m gonna have a heart attack. No!’
“That’s the worst thing — it’s the diet, man. It’s tough. And the food industry and Big Pharma (large, multinational pharmaceutical companies) are absolutely complicit in making us fat and giving us heart disease and strokes. Absolutely. They can sue me. Because it’s absolutely true.
“The healthiest time in the U.K. was in World War II when people had to have rations, so there wasn’t much food,” Blaze added. “People were at their healthiest — less heart attack, strokes, less illness, less obesity, less everything. And then when we had — and this is the worst thing — they say, ‘Oh, the best thing since sliced bread,’ is an expression. Sliced bread is the worst thing. Bread made in a factory is one of the absolute worst things for our health, and they told us, ‘Oh, it’s the best thing?’ No, it’s the worst thing. Bread should be made by bakers early in the morning, not in a factory. Anyway, that’s me. I had a heart attack and I feel it’s partly their fault. I didn’t know white bread was poisonous.”
Blaze Bayley has released the official music video for the song “Ghost In The Bottle” last year. The track is taken from Blaze‘s latest solo album, “Circle Of Stone”, which arrived in February 2024.
Watch “Ghost In The Bottle” below.
Blaze states: “Special thanks to the guys at Lion Island Media for their brilliant work shooting & editing the video. Thanks also to Lisa & Martin at the fabulous venue Whittles (Oldham, Greater Manchester) for their hospitality, kindness & friendship whilst allowing us to film there.”
Watch the previously released “Mind Reader” below.
“Circle Of Stone” track listing:
01. Mind Reader
02. Tears In Rain
03. Rage
04. The Year Beyond This Year
05. Ghost In The Bottle
06. The Broken Man
07. The Call Of The Ancestors
08. Circle Of Stone(feat. Niklas Stålvind)
09. Absence
10. A Day Of Reckoning
11. The Path Of The Righteous Man
12. Until We Meet Again
The 60-year-old Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999. The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, “The X Factor” and “Virtual XI”, sold considerably less than the band’s prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group’s home country since 1981’s “Killers”.
Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012’s “Wolfsbane Saves The World”, the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group’s self-titled 1994 effort, and a follow-up LP, 2022’s “Genius”.
Blaze‘s latest studio album, “War Within Me”, came out in April 2021. The LP was recorded during 2020 with work split between Blaze‘s studio at home in the West Midlands and Christopher Appleton‘s studio in Greater Manchester.
Last March, Blaze underwent a quadruple bypass surgery following a heart attack. He later shared details of the massive outpouring of well-wishes he received after his heart attack, including messages from his former MAIDEN bandmates.
“The thing I feel most lucky about is the incredible support I’ve had from my fans,” he told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. “All over the world. My WOLFSBANE, Blaze Bayley, the MAIDEN fans. Everybody bought a t-shirt for a tour that was postponed. They still bought it to support me. I’m just incredibly lucky. And the letters people wrote to me. Hundreds of cards from all over the place. It’s very humbling.”
Blaze continued: “I’ve always put my whole life into music. It is my life. When people get in touch with you and say, ‘I wish you well because your music has gotten me through tough times,’ ‘Your music meant this to me,’ ‘I first saw you way back when and it’s been the soundtrack to my life,’ it’s incredible. I got a massive card from the MAIDEN fan club. The (MAIDEN) guys all sent me a message. I’m always in touch with Steve Harris (MAIDEN bassist) anyway, but everyone sent messages of support.”
A heart bypass surgery, or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, is used to improve blood flow to the heart. A surgeon uses blood vessels taken from another area of the body to bypass the damaged arteries.
The term quadruple bypass refers to the number of coronary arteries bypassed in the procedure. In other words, a quadruple bypass means four coronary arteries are bypassed.
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