Will Taylor Swift Get Into the Rock Hall Before Iron Maiden?

Before Taylor Swift was even born, Iron Maiden had already established itself as one of the most popular heavy metal bands of all time. Though the British legends have only grown in stature and influence since then, it’s quite possible that the pop superstar will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before them.

Swift was born on Dec. 13, 1989. That’s a year and a half after Iron Maiden released their seventh studio album, 1988’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. They were firmly established as arena headliners by that time, and they remain capable of selling out large venues across the world today.

Since the release of her self-titled debut in 2006, Swift has rocketed to dizzying and nearly unprecedented levels of fame. She’s generated over $1 billion on her blockbuster Eras Tour and has sold an estimated 114 million albums in less than two decades. (Iron Maiden still has her beat in that department with 130 million sales, but given they had a 26-year head start, Swift seems certain to pass them at some point in the near future.)

Read More: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 10 Worst Metal Snubs

Swift will be eligible for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2031, 25 years after the release of Taylor Swift. In recent years, the institution has widened its scope, inducting pop, country and even hip-hop artists. If Swift can maintain anything close to her current level of popularity, it seems quite likely she’ll get voted in, perhaps even in her first year of eligibility.

On the other hand, despite being eligible since 2005, Iron Maiden has only been nominated for the Rock Hall twice — in 2021 and 2023 — and not yet inducted. The Rock Hall has been notoriously slow to induct even the most obviously important heavy metal and hard rock acts. It took them over 20 years to induct Judas %@#%$# Priest, and even then it was only in the secondary “musical excellence” category.

Of course, Iron Maiden hasn’t exactly endeared themselves to Rock Hall voters. In 2018, singer Bruce Dickinson made his distaste for the institution quite clear. “I’m really happy we’re not there and I would never want to be there,” he told the Jerusalem Post. “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.”

So, which one of these two vastly different artists will be the first to get inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? We asked four of our writers, and here’s what they said:

Annie Zaleski (Author, Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs): First off, Swift is no doubt a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2031. Whether Iron Maiden will get there before her is an interesting question. I’m going to be positive and lean toward yes. They’ve been nominated twice in the last few years, which is a good sign — this means they have advocates on the nominating committee — and it’s obvious that they’re one of the last superstar metal bands not in the Rock Hall. (Translation: They have less competition and won’t split the fan and overall expert vote.)

But I feel like their best route into the Rock Hall is how Judas Priest was inducted: the Musical Excellence category. They fit the profile of recent groups in this category — perennial nominees (MC5) or artists with fervent fanbases (Jimmy Buffett) — and it bypasses needing to drum up massive waves of industry support.

I don’t think Bruce Dickinson’s negative talk will affect Iron Maiden’s induction chances. After all, he isn’t the only artist to talk badly about the Rock Hall — consider Todd Rundgren, who expressed disdain for the institution but was inducted anyway. Rundgren just didn’t show up for the ceremony! Dickinson wouldn’t have to either — though it would certainly be excellent to see Eddie get the huge international spotlight.

Matthew Wilkening: I have to believe Iron Maiden’s going to get in first, otherwise my head might explode. It’s important to remember that the Rock Hall of Fame is just a private organization, who weren’t given any actual insight or authority from above. Your record and ticket stub collection is the only Hall of Fame that really matters. Their voters are of course entitled to their own opinions about what matters and what apparently does not matter in rock history. But at some point they’ve just got to realize that the line between subjective and objective has clearly been crossed here. Like them or not — and, actually, ever since 1986’s Somewhere in Time, their music has been increasingly self-indulgent and overbaked for my tastes — Iron Maiden are one of the most popular, important and influential bands in the history of heavy metal. If that’s not Hall of Fame-worthy, what is?

I believe Swift will — and, sure, why not, should — be inducted as soon as possible, which gives the Rock Hall six years to finally do the right thing by Iron Maiden. Also, having Judas Priest in and them out just makes this exclusion all the more glaring and self-incriminating. Dickinson’s public attacks shouldn’t matter; they’ve inducted numerous artists — Axl Rose, Johnny Rotten, Ozzy Osbourne — who have spoken out against the organization in the past.

Matt Wardlaw: I really do think that Iron Maiden will get in long before Taylor — and hopefully soon. It’s bonkers that we’re still talking about Maiden and they’re still not inducted. No matter what Bruce Dickinson may have said about the Rock Hall, it will ultimately not keep the organization from putting the band in, as we’ve seen with similar past examples. At the end of the day, Iron Maiden are a key influence on countless hard rock and heavy metal bands. As it was with Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and anyone else you might want to name, Maiden helped write the book for so many who have followed in their footsteps. Brave New World was perhaps their last truly great album, but they’ve remained creatively engaged and a force to be reckoned with in the live realm all the way to the present. Like Judas Priest before them, Iron Maiden’s proper invitation into the Hall is long overdue. Every day that they’re not in is a total travesty.

Taylor Swift will no doubt be inducted when she becomes eligible, and I think she deserves a slot in the Hall of Fame. If we consider Iron Maiden’s impact and lasting legacy, Taylor has also been an impressive trailblazer in multiple genres, including pop and country music. She’s still got a lot of career to go, but I think that like Maiden, we’ll still be talking about Taylor for many years to come.

Bryan Rolli: I hate this question. Not because it’s bad or invalid, but because it makes me sad to consider one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time being leapfrogged by a pop star who debuted 26 years after them. Swift is a shoo-in for the Rock Hall, probably in her first year of eligibility, due to the sheer magnitude of her success and her vice grip on virtually every mainstream music publication. (Let’s not forget that before the HOF ousted cofounder Jann Wenner, artists basically had to be in bed with Rolling Stone if they had any hope of induction.)

That said, I really, really hope — and perhaps I can even convince myself to believe — that the Hall will right one of its biggest wrongs and induct Iron Maiden within the next seven years. The clamoring will only get louder with each passing year, especially in the wake of Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne’s recent inductions. Nicko McBrain has also been candid about his health issues lately, and there’s been increasing pressure on the Hall to induct sick and aging artists while they’re still alive to savor the milestone. With all these factors at play, I do think the Hall will ultimately induct Maiden before Swift — still egregiously late, mind you, but better late than never, I guess.