Steve Baltin | Rolling Stone

Kevin Winter

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 2012 induction ceremony will be held in Cleveland, Ohio on April 14th, and this year class includes Guns N’ Roses, the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. One band that won’t be there, however, is KISS, who haven’t been voted in since they first became eligible for induction in 1999 – a fact that still rankles the group’s lead singer, Gene Simmons.

“It’s become a joke,” Simmons told Rolling Stone at Wednesday’s press conference announcing his band’s joint summer tour with Mötley Crüe. “We’ve been thinking about it and the answer is simply, ‘We’ll just buy it and fire everybody.'”

While Simmons was joking, he does take serious issue with his band’s exclusion from the Hall of Fame, as well as what kinds of acts have been inducted. “In all seriousness for the fans, for something to be called Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is such an insult to Madonna, Blondie and Tone Loc. Who the fuck knows what other disco act is in there? It’s an insult to them because they don’t get to be in the ‘Dance Hall of Fame,’ because that’s what they do,” Simons says. “They’re legitimate dance, disco artists. They don’t belong in rock and roll.”

Added Simmons’ bandmate, Paul Stanley, “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has reached a point where they’re really scrounging and scratching to find someone left that they consider viable,” said Stanley. “With all due respect, when you get to Patti Smith you’re about two steps away from Pete Seeger.”