While it's rare to hear anyone excited about anything that happens in Cleveland, the music world is abuzz with news of the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.
Being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is among the top honors any musician can hope to achieve, and past inductees include a wide range of icons from Bob Dylan to Etta James to The Grateful Dead. This year's honorees include Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, MC5, Motörhead, Nine Inch Nails, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren, Soundgarden, T. Rex and Thin Lizzy. Those who receive the most votes will be inducted May 2nd, 2020 at a ceremony at Cleveland's Public Hall.
While fans and media personnel take the Hall of Fame very seriously, it's not uncommon for rock stars to display nothing but nonchalance and cool when faced with this great honor, or even to snub it altogether—which, honestly, is pretty rock and roll. So, in celebration of the 2020 nominees, we've compiled a list of times musical icons didn't give a f*ck about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Todd Rundgren
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Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren, among the 2020 nominees, met news of this honor with a simple, "No comment." This is the second year in a row Rundgren has been nominated, and many consider it a major slight that he has yet to be included in the hall of fame. He told Billboard last year: "I didn't expect it and have never cared about it. The hardest thing was keeping my fans' expectations within reasonable bounds because they are very naive about it. I'm not; It's some weird Illuminati thing and nobody understands how it works and who does the voting and the nominee selections and all that sort of crap.
I'm not looking for some organization to acknowledge me, somehow. Besides, the Hall of Fame doesn't make any sense to me because musicians don't have to retire. Athletes retire, and that's when they go into the Hall of Fame, because they're not playing anymore. But everybody (the Rock Hall) is inducting now is still playing, so how can you say you've got the measure of them? You don't. So, no, I really don't care."
▲Steve Miller
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Steve Miller
In 2016, Steve Miller and his band were inducted into the Hall of Fame, and during his acceptance speech he criticized the Hall for their lack of inclusivity and meager philanthropic efforts, saying they needed to be "more inclusive of women and to be more transparent in your dealings with the public, and most importantly, to do much more to revive music in our schools." After the ceremony, he told just about any outlet that would listen that the Rock Hall does nothing "besides talk about itself and sell postcards," calling them a "bunch of jackasses and jerks and f*cking gangsters and crooks who've fucking stolen everything from a f*cking artist" and that he wanted to have their finances investigated.
▲Sex Pistols
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Sex Pistols
Nobody is cooler than Sex Pistols. You don't like Sex Pistols? They don't care. They're still cooler than you. In 2016, they let the world know just how much they don't give a f*ck by refusing to be inducted into the Hall of Fame with a handwritten note, in full below. They were literally too rock n' roll to even use spell check. Hell yes.
"Next to the SEX-PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. Were not coming. Were not your monkey and so what? Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table, or $15000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a non-profit organisation selling us a load of old famous. Congradulations. If you voted for us, hope you noted your reasons. Your anonymous as judges, but your still music industry people. Were not coming. Your not paying attention. Outside the shit-stem is a real SEX PISTOL [sic]."
▲Axl Rose
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Axl Rose
One of the most notorious bad boys of rock, Axl Rose of Guns n' Roses, wrote years prior to the band's induction into the Hall of Fame, "I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf," he wrote. "Neither former members, label representatives nor the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should imply whether directly, indirectly or by omission that I am included in any purported induction." When the band finally was inducted in 2012, the band performed without Rose.
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