Charlie Benante: Anthrax deserve Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame recognition

Earlier this month, the nominees for 2020’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame were announced.

The rock world was well represented with Motorhead, Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Soundgarden, T-Rex, MC5, Nine Inch Nails, Pat Benatar and Todd Rundgren all in with a shot of making it in next year. They were joined on the list by Dave Matthews Band, The Doobie Brothers, Kraftwerk, Whitney Houston, The Notorious B.I.G. and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan

And in a recent interview with Anthrax’s Charlie Benante on Sirius XM’s Trunk Nation, the topic of the Rock Hall was brought up – with the drummer saying his band deserve to be recognised for the work they’ve done in bringing metal to the masses.

He says (via Blabbermouth): “The reason why I think we should be nominated for The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is because of the stamp that we made on rock and heavy metal music.

“If it wasn't for us, there would be a lot of bands that wouldn't be around today. I don't mean to sound, 'Oh, this guy's got a huge ego,' but we introduced a lot of people to rap music and to that whole style that became nu metal.

“We never really talk about it too much, but since you brought it up, yeah. I think that's more important to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, because of what genre it created and that genre created another genre.”

Anthrax formed in 1981 and have released 11 studio albums, with their most recent being 2016’s For All Kings.

The band will play at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville on November 15 and will join Slipknot at Knotfest Japan in Chiba on March 20, 2020.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.