Iron Maiden Inducted Into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, With Their Song Played in Their Absence

Iron Maiden were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on November 14, but the band were not there to accept it. The British heavy metal group were on tour, and other musicians stepped in to honour them on stage, as Pitchfork reported.

Induction is the formal honour that places an act in the Hall of Fame. At this year's ceremony, the Hall honoured ten past and present members of the band: Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, Paul Di'Anno, Blaze Bayley, Dennis Stratton, Nicko McBrain and Clive Burr.

The evening's centrepiece was a performance of "The Trooper," one of the band's best-known songs. St. Vincent, Metallica's Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo, Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk, and Mötley Crüe's John 5 took part. Actor and comedian Jack Black also joined the group on stage.

Black had already given the formal induction speech for Iron Maiden just before the performance. The speech is the part of the night where the honourees are introduced to the room, and it set up the song that followed.

The ceremony itself was not livestreamed, so viewers could not watch it as it happened. It will be broadcast on ABC and Disney+ on December 8, giving fans a fixed date to see the full evening.

For the people in the room, the mix of performers meant a single song passed between several bands. Musicians who usually play in separate projects shared one stage, and the band whose song it was stayed on tour elsewhere.

The broadcast on December 8 will show how the night looked on screen. Until then, the details available are the ones the Hall and the performers have shared: a speech, a song, and ten names added to the story of one of heavy metal's most durable bands.