Carnival of Soul

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation has had a change of heart and has added longtime MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee and guitarist Phil Campbell to the ballot for the band’s nomination for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

MOTÖRHEAD welcomed the good news, tweeting: “Thanks to everyone who spoke up loudly. Thanks to the #ROCKHALL2020 for listening and adding Phil & Mikkey. All for one and one for all!”

This past week, Dee said that it was “pure wrong” that he and Campbell weren’t initially listed on MOTÖRHEAD‘s Rock Hall ballot.

Campbell joined MOTÖRHEAD in 1984 and has appeared on 16 of the band’s studio albums, beginning with 1986’s “Orgasmatron” and ending with MOTÖRHEAD‘s final release, “Bad Magic”. Dee joined MOTÖRHEAD in 1992 as the replacement for original drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor. He made his MOTÖRHEAD full-album recording debut on 1993’s “Bastards” and stayed in the group until mainman Lemmy‘s untimely death in 2015.

When the Rock Hall class of 2020 nominees were first announced, only Lemmy, Taylor and guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke were on the ballot for MOTÖRHEAD‘s Rock Hall nomination.

“That is pure wrong, I would say, and I know Phil will be very disappointed, too,” Dee told Billboard about the duo’s exclusion on Tuesday (October 15). “We’ve been carrying the flag for 25 years together, and actually brought MOTÖRHEAD to what it was. We did 25 years out of the 40. The original band lasted just a few years. They started it off, but as Lemmy said himself they wouldn’t have lasted another six months doing that lineup. I don’t think we would’ve been where we are today without the 25 years we spent touring.”

Campbell hadn’t commented on his brief Hall Of Fame snub, but he recently told the “Scars And Guitars” podcast that many fans are unaware of his contributions to MOTÖRHEAD. “Some people, they don’t even bother to read the writing credits of the MOTÖRHEAD stuff,” he said. “They just think it’s Lemmy‘s thing. That kind of pisses me off. A lot of people seem to think that way. A few times I’ve said to people, ‘Read the writing credits.’ … It was a proper band effort, we all worked hard with that band.”

Dee told Billboard that he and Campbell will attend the induction ceremony to represent if MOTÖRHEAD makes it through. “Absolutely,” he declared. “I think that’s a must. Phil and me have to attend — and play there, of course. It would be a real honor.”

Back in 2014, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation president and CEO Joel Peresman defended the selection process for which band lineups actually get inducted, telling Billboard that the decision about who to induct from any band is made by the Rock Hall‘s nominating committee as well as an adjunct group of “scholars and historians” familiar with specific inductees and genres. “This isn’t chemistry or physics; it’s not an exact science,” Peresman acknowledged. “Sometimes there’s an entire body of work up until (the artists) are inducted, other times it’s a specific period of time that established the band as who they are.”

The top Rock Hall vote-getters will be announced in January and inducted May 2, 2020 at a ceremony at Cleveland’s Public Hall.

To be eligible for this year’s ballot, each nominee’s first single or album had to be released in 1994 or earlier.

A voter pool of more than 1,000 artists, historians, journalists and members of the music industry will select the new class. Fans will also have a chance to take part in the process by voting at RockHall.com or an interactive kiosk at the museum in Cleveland.