It has become an undeniable fact that for anything Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-related to be controversy and/or drama free is to find icebergs in the desert.
The most recent installment involves Dire Straits' induction—which we didn’t think they merited, but that’s now moot, obviously—and the incredibly awkward circumstances surrounding it.
Frontman Mark Knopfler declined to participate in the ceremony for reasons he has yet to disclose, while his brother, guitarist David, griping about the Hall not taking care of his travel expenses, also failed to appear. That left the remaining members of the band to be inducted in person. Lame, but no big deal and certainly not the first time it's gone down like this. But where it gets ridiculous is that, for the time ever, no one was available to induct the artist at hand. Yes, you read right: no one was there to induct Dire Straits. [faceplam] Word got out that Keith Urban and Neil Young were approached but reportedly turned it down due to Knopfler not being involved, which is understandable. But if no artists wanted to take the podium, shouldn't one of the Hall's execs have performed the induction, instead of leaving Straits bassist to do his own induction?
Van Halen got inducted without David Lee Roth or the Van Halen brothers; neither Axl Rose nor Izzy Stradlin showed up for the Guns N Roses induction, either. (Of course, the fact that both bands later reunited for highly lucrative tours makes their respective no-shows all the more petty and pathetic.) But for the first time in the RRHoF's history, still-living artists refused to show up for their induction AND the remaining members did not get the courtesy of a presenter to induct them. Ugh.
A big fuck you to the RRHoF for the Dire Straits fiasco—you welcomed the execrable Bon Jovi (among others) into the Hall but couldn't get someone to simply stand up and induct an honoree?
And a big fuck you to all the artists whose bullshit ego and pettiness have led them to rebuff an honor the vast majority of artists will never get but would humbly accept.
