Retired IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain has admitted to "mixed emotions" over the band's long-delayed induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joining the Class of 2026 alongside a group of legendary acts. The ceremony will take place November 14, 2026 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with a broadcast following on ABC and Disney+ in December.
IRON MAIDEN have been eligible for induction since 2004 — the standard 25 years after a band's first release — but the honor arrived only after two prior nominations, in 2021 and 2023, the latter seeing the band finish fourth in fan voting.
McBrain, who called the accolade "a wonderful accolade to have regardless of the politics behind it all," was careful to note that admission into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is ultimately decided by a small nominating committee rather than public sentiment: "it's not something that's voted for by your fans... the board that decide."
The induction folds in IRON MAIDEN's full lineage: current members Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers, alongside former vocalists Paul Di'Anno and Blaze Bayley, guitarist Dennis Stratton, drummer Clive Burr, and McBrain himself.
McBrain's own IRON MAIDEN story spans over four decades. He joined in December 1982 in time to record "Piece Of Mind," becoming the band's third-longest-serving member behind only Steve Harris and Dave Murray. He retired from the drum stool after IRON MAIDEN's final show of the "Future Past" tour in São Paulo, Brazil, on December 7, 2024, citing declining health: "I had my health issues... I wasn't doing the songs justice." Simon Dawson has since taken over behind the kit.
The Hall of Fame news arrives as McBrain also prepares to release his autobiography, "Hello Boys And Girls!," due out October 22, 2026 via Harper NonFiction — giving fans two major reasons to revisit one of heavy metal's most storied careers this year.
For a band that spent two decades being passed over by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame despite selling more than 130 million albums worldwide, the 2026 induction closes a long-standing gap between IRON MAIDEN's commercial and cultural stature and its institutional recognition — even if, as McBrain's comments suggest, the moment carries some complicated feelings for the men who built that legacy.