The fan vote is currently underway for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Class Of 2022. The top five artists, as selected by the public, will comprise a “fans’ ballot” that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2022 inductees. Judas Priest are currently in 6th place, trailing behind Duran Duran, Eminem, Pat Benatar, Dolly Parton and Eurythmics.

The fact that Judas Priest has been eligible for 22 years now and isn’t yet in the Hall after three times on the ballot doesn’t sit well with Slayer guitar legend Kerry King, reports Rolling Stone. King has been a massive Priest fan since high school.

“Some years, you hear who got in the Rock Hall and you’re like, ‘Well, how did they get in above these other bands?'” he says. “So it seems basically like a popularity contest rather than, ‘Do they deserve to get in there?’ Because Judas Priest deserve to be in there. They’ve had a 50-year career - longer than Slayer did, and we had a long-ass career - and they’re still playing when they’re all healthy. So they’ve got longevity on their side. They were a darling of MTV, when MTV came out. And I probably couldn’t count all the hits - or what the common person would call hits.”

With Rock Hall fan voting open through April 29, King spoke to Rolling Stone about how Judas Priest shaped him, their influence on metal as a whole, and why this ought to be the year they get in. An excerpt follows:

"I must have first heard Judas Priest on the radio. I was a very sheltered 16-year-old, and I didn’t have an older brother or somebody that was already into music to turn me onto it. I was basically force-fed whatever my sisters would have around, and luckily they liked rock. So living in Los Angeles back when British Steel came out the radio stations, KMET or KLOS started playing 'Living After Midnight' and 'Breaking the Law', and immediately I latched onto it.

"As a young guitar player, I could tell there were two guitars on the recording, and the creativity and early uniqueness of two guitars totally inspired what Slayer became. And then there was the singer, Rob Halford. To this day, he is my favorite singer. He knows it. It’s an uncomfortable thing between us, but we’re friends and he knows he’s my favorite."

Read more at Rolling Stone, and visit vote.rockhall.com to cast a ballot daily. Fans will need to login to vote. Voting is capped at one ballot per day.

(Kerry King photo - Chad Lee Photography; Rob Halford photo - Mark Gromen)