In a new interview with the WMMR radio station, ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell was asked about the chances of his band getting inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. ALICE IN CHAINS‘ debut album, “Facelift”, came out in 1990, which would have made the group eligible since 2015. Cantrell said about the possibility (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I’ve seen some of my friends and peers and mentors be accepted. And it’s not something that’s gonna make or break your career, but it’s always nice to be recognized for your work. I don’t really spend a whole lot of time thinking about it. Like I say, it doesn’t make or break my career. But it is always nice when people recognize your music and your work and appreciate what you do. That’s the reason why you do it — to satisfy yourself as a musician, to create something out of nothing that makes you proud and makes you feel and then give it out to the world and have people react to it and make them feel as well and make it part of their life. It becomes personal to them as well as it’s personal to you.”
With NIRVANA and PEARL JAM already in the Hall Of Fame, ALICE IN CHAINS is one of a couple of seminal Seattle bands, along with SOUNDGARDEN, that has yet to be inducted.
A few years ago, Cantrell, who performed at the 2013 Rock Hall ceremony with inductees HEART, told Cleveland.com about NIRVANA‘s 2014 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, making them the first “grunge band” from the Seattle scene to be inducted: “It’s well deserved. I loved those guys.” But the singer-guitarist added, “I was surprised to see them go in before PEARL JAM. They went in for ‘Bleach’, which wasn’t a big record ’till ‘Nevermind’ became a big record.”
Jerry previously discussed ALICE IN CHAINS‘ hypothetical Rock Hall induction in a 2013 interview with Radio.com. At the time, he said: “We’re not in this to win awards. And that’s the attitude I went there with. And I have to say, in fairness, that my opinion was a bit changed by being a guest with HEART and seeing how much it meant for them. It was a cool show, it was with a lot of respect. I was kind of moved.”
Cantrell added, “I also liked what [late RUSH drummer and Hall Of Fame inductee] Neil Peart said: ‘For years, we’ve been saying that this isn’t a big deal. Turns out: it’s a pretty big deal!’ It was cool to see him say that.”
Two of ALICE IN CHAINS‘ founding members, singer Layne Staley and bassist Mike Starr, both passed away.
ALICE IN CHAINS released three albums with Staley, who died of a drug overdose, before the surviving members — Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney — brought guitarist William DuVall onboard in 2006. After that, they issued three well-received albums: the 2009 Grammy-nominated “Black Gives Way Too Blue”, 2013’s “The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here” and 2018’s “Rainier Fog”.
Cantrell‘s new solo album, “Brighten”, was made available on October 29.
