The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is considered one of the greatest award ceremonies in the genre of rock music, and plenty of musicians have been honored to be inducted. Some musicians, however, couldn’t have cared less about their inductions. Let’s look at a few rock stars who spurned the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame through the years!
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1. Roger Waters
Pink Floyd was inducted into the Hall of Fame back in 1996. Unfortunately, Roger Waters hated David Gilmour so much that he couldn’t handle being near him. It’s certainly understandable why.
Waters and Gilmour were in a wicked legal battle for years after Rogers departed the band, specifically over whether or not Gilmour could continue using the Pink Floyd name. The three remaining members of the band showed up for their induction, and the absent Waters couldn’t have cared less about it.
2. Axl Rose
In this example of rock stars that spurned the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose told the world exactly what he thought of his band getting inducted. Specifically, Rose made a statement noting that he didn’t understand what the Hall was or how it makes money, and that he didn’t understand “who chooses the voters and why anyone or this board decides who, out of all the artists in the world that have contributed to this genre, officially ‘rock’ enough to be in the Hall?” The rest of the band performed at the induction.
3. Grace Slick
Jefferson Airplane made it into the Hall of Fame in 1996. Their frontwoman, Grace Slick, was notably absent during the ceremony. She didn’t have any beef with the organization but rather decided that retired musicians should stay retired.
“I’m not comfortable being an old person on stage,” Slick said in an interview with Forbes. “Rock is like sports. You have a certain run, then get out.”
4. Neil Young
Neil Young was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a solo artist back in 1995, and seemed perfectly alright with it. Young has inducted a number of musicians into the Hall of Fame through the years, too. That being said, he seemed to change his tune in 1997 when Buffalo Springfield was inducted and he refused to attend.
“This presentation is in direct opposition to what I believe,” said Young at the time. “Although I accept the honour, in the name of rock and roll, I decline to take part in this TV presentation and be trotted out like some cheap awards show. There are already too many of these.”
5. All of the Sex Pistols
This is probably the most famous example of rock stars who gave a firm middle finger to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Upon getting inducted in 2006, Sex Pistols posted an expletive-laden note on their website. They refused to attend their induction. Rock Hall founder Jann Wenner read the letter during the ceremony. You can hear it in all of its foul glory in the above video.
Photo by Mariano Regidor/Redferns
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