Blaze Bayley up for Hall nod
Blaze Bayley — Iron Maiden’s vocalist from 1994–1999 — has been added to the band's 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination ballot, marking his first appearance on the list. (blabbermouth.net) (bravewords.com)
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame unveiled its 17 Performer nominees on February 25, 2026, and said those nominees now move to a ballot that will be distributed to an international voting panel of more than 1,200 artists, historians and industry professionals. (rockhall.com) When the Hall first posted its Iron Maiden member roster with the February announcement, the listed musicians were Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Nicko McBrain, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, Dennis Stratton, Paul Di'Anno and Clive Burr — Bayley was not on that initial roster. (blabbermouth.net) Fans monitoring the Rock Hall site later flagged a change to the band's member list, and the omission prompted public criticism from radio personality Eddie Trunk, who called the original exclusion "a massive oversight." (blabbermouth.net (ultimateclassicrock.com) Blaze Bayley recorded two Iron Maiden studio albums, The X Factor (1995) and Virtual XI (1998), and those releases sold substantially less than previous Maiden records and were the group's lowest-charting UK studio albums since 1981's Killers. (blabbermouth.net) The Rock Hall says this year’s Performer inductees will be revealed in April and the induction ceremony will take place in the Fall of 2026, with final selections determined by the more-than-1,200-member voting body. (rockhall.com)
