KISS bassist Gene Simmons is not impressed that hip-hop artists were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before bands like Iron Maiden.
Simmons, who entered the famed institution with his band in 2014, has come under fire after he expressed his dissatisfaction with the inclusion of rap and hip-hop artists on the LegendsNLeaders show last week.
"It's not my music. I don't come from the ghetto. It doesn't speak my language. And as I've said many times in the media, hip-hop doesn't belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, any more than opera or symphony orchestras do," he stressed.
Simons complained that metal band Iron Maiden is still not in the Hall of Fame, while hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash has been inducted.
"The fact that, for example, Iron Maiden is not in the Hall of Fame, even though they can sell out stadiums, and Grandmaster Flash is...", he pointed out, noting that he had an "exchange of views" with rapper Ice Cube on the subject.
In an interview with People, he insisted that he "stands behind his comments."
"First, I appreciate and respect hip-hop. Second, it's not rock 'n' roll. And third, when are Led Zeppelin and AC/DC going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?"
When asked if the use of the word "ghetto" was racist, he replied that it was a "Jewish term."
"How could that be (racist), when rock is black music? Rock 'n' roll owes everything to black music, that's a fact, period. All major trends in American music have their roots in black music," Simmons stressed.
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