The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is inducting a new batch of inductees this weekend. A few inductees are performing including the Red Hot Chili Peppers. One band that is not performing is Guns N' Roses.
Apparently from what I've been able to gather is the idea was to bring all the members together to perform a few classic GN'R tunes, but cry-baby Axl Rose wasn't having it. Especially with Slash being so openly on the fence and former drummer Steven Adler calling the current GN'R lineup a bunch of hacks. Axl later said he wouldn't even be there to accept his honor.
Axl's protest isn't a new idea. There are several other fascinating examples of rock icons giving the Rock Hall the big middle-finger. There was an incident when the girl fronted "punk" group Blondie was inducted with a live performance ... but a few members of the original lineup of Blondie were kicked out. Watch that exchanged of two former band mates with Blondie front woman Debbie Harry during the ceremony here.
So what you have is the Rock Hall pitting band members, former and present, against each other in hopes to create some controversy for the blogs to talk about. No publicity is bad publicity, right? Personally I think it's silly to stage this kind of drama. But there are even deeper and more relevant points to consider about the Rock Hall.
There's this gem where Johnny Rotten (John Lyndon) from the seminal "punk" band The Sex Pistols being very critical of the hall of fame with this wonderful statement.
| "Don't let the system divide us or compartmentalize us or separate us into categories ... which they invent to try to divide us ... Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is telling me that if I pay 25,000 a table to sit 10 people, right, they're gonna remind me that I'm famous ... I've never asked to be famous, I'm probably more infamous." ~John Lyndon |
We can't go by without mentioning other flubs with the Rock Hall like how Ozzy didn't care for Black Sabbath to be part of it and then there's the criticism of the induction of some bands over others like why isn't KISS in the Rock Hall?
Bottom line is this, music is music and what turns you on is what turns you on. You don't need to be told what's good music. You know what's good music from the moment you hear good music. Don't let "them" dictate to you what your tastes are!
And with that said, be sure to let WQLZ know what you want to hear! We're listening! Be sure to "Request A Song" as we're always your Rock Station!
