Judas Priest's Richie Faulkner blasted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after the revered metal band failed to the make the 2020 induction class.

"These institutions are founded on what these guys helped create and to not be included is a total joke," the guitarist tweeted hours after the inductees — the Doobie Brothers, T. Rex, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Whitney Houston and the Notorious B.I.G. — were announced earlier today.

(Even though Faulkner's Twitter page isn't verified, his official website links to the account.)

The message highlights a series of tweets about the group — which has been eligible for induction since 1999 and even made the 2018 ballot – being excluded once again from the Hall. Responding to a fan complaint about Depeche Mode, Houston, Nine Inch Nails and the Notorious B.I.G. being inducted before Judas Priest, Faulkner wrote, "Doesn't make any sense, does it, Kenny? Hence why the Rock Hall holds no credibility for me and never has."

Elsewhere, the guitarist — who joined Judas Priest in 2011 — continued to question the idea of non-rock artists being inducted at this stage in the Hall's history. "If you wanna call it the ROCK hall, then you should start with a healthy foundation of ROCK (in all its forms) to build on," he argued. "The founding brothers and sisters that created and developed our beloved style of music and aided its evolution. Otherwise, what does it mean?"

And when one fan called it a "joke" that Nine Inch Nails will be inducted before Judas Priest, Faulkner replied, "I think even [Trent] Reznor would agree with you."

After another fan suggested Judas Priest and Iron Maiden could get inducted in the same year, Faulkner chimed in, "And both decline the induction. That's metal." And when someone wrote that the true Rock Hall is witnessing "Priest/Maiden/etc. rip it up with 10-20,000 others," the guitarist concurred, "1,000 percent agree."

Though they didn't make the cut, Judas Priest did make the top five of the official fan vote. After earning that honor, the band expressed a "huge metal thank-you" to the "Priest family," noting, "Whatever the outcome, we are blessed having the best metal fans in the world of heavy metal!"

 

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