Bands That Deserve To Be In The Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame

Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson formed the band in 1983. A pioneer of the American thrash metal scene, Megadeth is credited as one of the genre's "big four," along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer, responsible for thrash metal's development and popularization. Megadeth plays in a technical style, featuring complex arrangements and fast rhythm sections. Themes of death, war, politics, and religion are prominent in the song lyrics.

Rush is known for Small Soldiers (1998), The Infiltrator (2016) and The Lords of Salem (2012).

Studio Albums: Iron Maiden (1980) Killers (1981) The Number of the Beast (1982) Piece of Mind (1983) Powerslave (1984) Somewhere in Time (1986) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) No Prayer for the Dying (1990) Fear of the Dark (1992) The X Factor (1995) Virtual XI (1998) Brave New World (2000) Dance of Death (2003) A Matter of Life and Death (2006) The Final Frontier (2010) The Book Of Souls (2015)

Current lineup: Bruce Dickinson

• lead vocals (1981-1993, 1999-present)

Dave Murray - guitar (1976-1977;1978-present) Janick Gers - guitar (1990-present) Adrian Smith - guitar, backing vocals (1980-1989, 1999-present) Steve Harris - bass, backing vocals (1975-present) Nicko McBrain - drums (1983-present)

KISS is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley. Well known for its members' face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-to-late 1970s with their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnics. The band has gone through several lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons the only remaining original members.

Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. Formed in 1981, the group was founded by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax.

Slayer's musical traits involve fast tremolo picking, atonal guitar solos, double bass drumming, and shouting vocals. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as serial killers, Satanism, religion and warfare, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and strong criticism from religious groups and the public.

Since their debut album in 1983, the band has released two live albums, one box set, six videos, two extended plays, and eleven studio albums, four of which have received gold certification in the United States. The band has received five Grammy nominations, winning two of them; one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane", and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six". They have played music festivals worldwide, including Unholy Alliance, Download and Ozzfest.

Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981 by rhythm guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker. The group was considered one of the leaders of the thrash metal scene during the 1980s and is one of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands with Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer; Anthrax is the only one of the four from the East Coast. The band has released 11 studio albums and has sold 2.5 million records in the United States from 1991 to 2004, with worldwide sales of 10 million.

Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. The group was formed in 1981. Pantera released four albums during the 1980s. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera introduced the new singer Phil Anselmo in late 1986 and released Power Metal in 1988. With its fifth album, 1990's Cowboys from Hell, Pantera introduced a groove metal sound. Pantera's sixth album, 1992's Vulgar Display of Power, exhibited an even heavier sound. Far Beyond Driven (1994) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Pantera went on hiatus in 2001 and was disbanded in 2003. The band has sold more than 60 million records as of August 2017.

Soundgarden are an internationally successful American alternative rock band, who first appeared from amidst the damp and misty city of Seattle, Washington. Along with Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Nirvana and the Screaming Trees, they formed what was referred to as the 'Grunge' movement of the early 1990s. The band members are lead vocalist Chris Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Hiro Yamamoto, and drummer Matt Cameron.

They produced five studio albums between 1988 and 1996, 'Superunknown' (1994) and 'Down on the Upside' (1995) being the most successful and charting at No.1 and No.2 respectively. The band split in 1997 and Chris Cornell went on to form Audioslave with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. Cornell also concentrated on a number of solo projects. Matt Cameron joined Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam where he has remained ever since.

Soundgarden supported Guns N' Roses on their 1991 tour and played the 1992 Lollapalooza tour with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam and Ministry. They starred in - and contributed to the soundtrack of the Matt Dillon film Singles (1992) along with a host of alternative bands including The Smashing Pumpkins. Other notable film soundtracks include Pacific Heights (1990), Wayne's World (1992) and True Romance (1993).

In 2010, Soundgarden reformed, although Matt Cameron has also remained with Pearl Jam.

Nirvana was an American rock band formed by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting and best-known being Dave Grohl, who joined in 1990. Despite releasing only three full-length studio albums in their seven-year career, Nirvana has come to be regarded as one of the most influential and important alternative bands in history. Though the band dissolved in 1994 after the death of Cobain, their music maintains a popular following and continues to influence modern rock and roll culture.

Leslie West was born on 22 October 1945 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Vanishing Point (1971), Spenser Confidential (2020) and The Expendables (2010). He was married to Jenni Maurer. He died on 23 December 2020 in Palm Coast, Florida, USA.

Mötley Crüe was an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, on January 17, 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, lead singer Vince Neil and lead guitarist Mick Mars. Mötley Crüe has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 25 million albums in the United States, making it one of the best-selling bands of all time. Its final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, was released on June 24, 2008 and the final show took place on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2015.

How many rock stars can brag about recording and touring consistently in six different decades? That's just one of the many claims to fame enjoyed by Ronnie James Dio. Born on July 10, 1942, this Cortland, New York native began his recording career back in 1958. Even back then, the seeds of Ronnie James Dio's future musical excesses had already been sown. After more than 40 years in the rock business, Ronnie James Dio has shown he still has what it takes to get the job done. The mystery surrounding Ronnie's age is still going. He himself says the age is not important, the only thing that matters is the music. He was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but was raised in Cortland, near Syracuse in New York State in the USA, in a quiet, Italian, middle class community. Ronnie changed his name sometime (the exact date is unknown) from Padovana to Dio - Which means "God" in Italian.

In describing Henry Rollins, the tendency is to try to squeeze as many labels as possible into a single sentence but if Henry Rollins could be reduced to a single word, that word would undoubtedly be "workaholic." When he's not traveling, Rollins prefers a to keep a relentless schedule full of work, with gigs as an actor, author, DJ, voice-over artist and TV show host to name a few of the roles that keep his schedule full.

Rollins has toured the world as a spoken word artist, as frontman for both Rollins Band and Black Flag and as a solitary traveler with insatiable curiosity, favoring road-less-traveled locales in places such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Siberia, North Korea, South Sudan and Iran.

Henry hosts a weekly radio show on L.A.'s renowned NPR affiliate KCRW, in addition to writing weekly columns for the LA Weekly and Rolling Stone Australia. Henry received the prestigious Ray Bradbury Creativity Award in recognition for his lifelong contribution to the arts, his passion for social activism, as well as his intense passion for the importance of maintaining books and libraries.

Jello Biafra is a compelling, enigmatic public speaker and musician. He has sung for many bands: his first band, Dead Kennedys, was a seminal early punk band and continues to define and influence American punk rock and its beneficiaries. A leader and follower of the "Do It Yourself" punk ethic of music production, he founded the Alternative Tentacles record label, which published the entire Dead Kennedys' catalog, and continues to publish established and emerging talent. As a practical joke, Biafra entered the San Francisco mayoral election in 1979, and came in fourth out of ten candidates. Biafra was a casualty in a right-wing U.S. cultural movement of the 1980s to censor adult content from recorded music and associated materials. Biafra was charged and exonerated in court on a charge of "Distribution of Harmful Matter to Minors", namely, an album containing a poster of "Penis Landscape" by H.R. Giger. The police raid on Biafra's home and his subsequent trial became an underlying theme of Biafra's public speeches and lyrics.

Blue Cheer is known for Night on Earth (1991), On the Air (1995) and Troll (1986).