Progressive rock and roll legend Ian Anderson, founding member of JETHRO TULL, was asked in a new interview with Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com about his band’s place in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He responded: “Well, so far, it’s a sense of relief that I haven’t had to face the embarrassing prospect of being invited into the Hall Of Fame, to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame, because I’ve long maintained the position that the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is an American institution about American-inspired music. It doesn’t necessarily preclude musicians of other nationalities, but I think it’s gotta be essentially — it’s about American music. Not necessarily exactly rock and roll — we’re not talking about Chuck Berry or Little Richard or Elvis Presley or whatever, but we’re talking, broadly speaking, pop and rock music. There is a certain sort of American styling, and certainly THE ROLLING STONES, for example, would fit that perfectly because they owe everything to American music, whereas, I guess, JETHRO TULL, apart from the first album, I would say [there’s] not a lot of Americana in the musical styles that I tend to work with. So I don’t think we are appropriate as inductees into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.”
He continued: “But the other side of the coin is when the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame opened its doors, it did so with a few JETHRO TULL exhibits, which I provided to them, and they were in Cleveland when the place was shiny and new and I went to take a look. It’s not as if we’re divorced from that whole thing entirely, but I think there’s a slight difference when it comes to being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. And luckily, I’m not gonna be faced with an embarrassment of having to claim that I’m washing my hair that night and I can’t actually come to wherever it is they do such things.”
Ian added: “Historically, Jann Wenner [co-founder and publisher of the popular culture magazine Rolling Stone], who is, as far as I know, still one of the kingpins who sits on that board and decides who will be admitted through its grand portals, he’s always had a huge dislike of JETHRO TULL, from Rolling Stone days onwards. So we’re not on his list of favorites for sure, and that’s fine; that’s fine by me. But genuinely, I respect the institution of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame enormously, but I don’t think we really belong in there. I can think of a few artists who probably do, who are not part of that. They owe so much to American music, and American music owes something to them too, because they have continued to keep that flame of musical Americana alive throughout the world, even if they’re not citizens of the USA.”
Despite the fact that artists are eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single, iconic hard rock and metal bands like IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST have yet to be recognized by the institution, which inducted GUNS N’ ROSES in that group’s first year of eligibility.
The Rock Hall didn’t induct BLACK SABBATH until 2006, and METALLICA followed three years later.
Rock Hall rules state that artists become eligible a quarter century after their first records were released, but the Hall also claims that other “criteria include the influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock ‘n’ roll,” which is, of course, open to interpretation.
Eligible for induction since 1999, KISS didn’t get its first nomination until 2009, and was finally inducted in 2014.
DEEP PURPLE was eligible for the Rock Hall since 1993 but didn’t get inducted until five years ago.
PRIEST was on the ballot for Rock Hall induction two years ago, but failed to receive enough votes to make the class of 2020.
Having been eligible for induction since 1999, PRIEST was previously on the ballot for the 2018 class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but was ultimately left out of the inductee list.
IRON MAIDEN was on the ballot for Rock Hall induction last year, but didn’t make the class of 2021.
IRON MAIDEN was on the ballot for Rock Hall induction last year, but didn’t make the class of 2021.
JETHRO TULL famously won the “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance” Grammy Award over METALLICA in 1989, which is still considered to be one of the most controversial moments in rock and metal history.
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Tagged: Alternative Music, music blog