James Hetfield Calls Motorhead Not Being In Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame A ‘Travesty’

During an appearance on “The Metallica Report” podcast, James Hetfield chided the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, saying not inducting the Motorhead legend Lemmy Kilmister so far is a “travesty.”

During his appearance, Hetfield also discussed his new tattoo, which pays tribute to Lemmy and was made with ink mixed with the Motorhead frontman’s ashes.

“I had been given some ashes of Lemmy and a little silver bullet that was like a necklace,” Hetfield explained before describing the artwork. “The Iron Cross and the ace of spades. So Lemmy is able to still fly the bird to the world via me. And just a reminder of what an inspiration he has been in my life – what to do, what not to do.”

Hetfield also noted that the tattoo gave him a way to pay respects to Lemmy “maybe in lieu of him being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which still continues to piss me off.”

“The most rock and roll lifestyle-living person on this planet is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Hetfield said, “which is a travesty, a shame. It’s kind of a disrespect to rock and roll, basically. So this [tattoo] is me paying homage to him.”

Motorhead was nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 but ultimately didn’t earn induction.