Dennis DeYoung, founding member of rock group Styx, has called out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame following its 40th birthday celebration. The artist would air his grievances, writing, “Making so many musicians wait until they [are] either incapacitated or dead is shameful”.
Styx’s very own Dennis DeYoung has taken to social media to call out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, stating that many deserving musicians continue to be overlooked or wait “so long” to be inducted.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just celebrated its 40th anniversary, and inducted the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, The White Stripes, Soundgarden and more. The event featured special appearances by Elton John, Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, Twenty One Pilots, and more throughout the night.
DeYoung, however, was less than impressed and would take to social media to air his thoughts.
“It’s a shame that Bad Company had to wait so long to get in that it rendered Paul Rodgers unable to perform due to health concerns,” the Styx founding member would write. “Bollocks!” I would have liked to have seen him perform years ago to demonstrate how one of rock’s premiere singers ACTUALLY ROCKS.”
“You know, like the name on their institution’s logo. I have said this repeatedly for decades, just change the damn name.”
Last year, Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers shared on social media ahead of being inducted that he wouldn’t perform on the night, telling fans he had to “prioritise his health” after suffering two major strokes and a series of minor strokes.
According to DeYoung, Rodgers’ absence at the event would go on to prove the “tragic manner in which this joint operates.”
“Making so many musicians wait until they [are] either incapacitated or dead is shameful,” he continued. “Joe Cocker, Warren Zevon et al are suddenly eligible decades after their success? Explain that, what’s changed except the Hall’s inability to let go of their clear prejudices and induct them?”
“They now admit, when it’s far too late that they have erred. Have Joe, Warren and others recently become more popular? …no,” he went on to write. “The Hall’s initial mission statement about who qualifies was always a ruse and a joke concocted to protect their own personal choices. I’ll stop now before I need BP [blood pressure] meds.
DeYoung, who hasn’t been inducted or nominated himself, would go on to acknowledge the optics of complaining about who gets inducted, however.
“I have said this before – as someone whose band has never been considered, whatever I write ends up sounding like sour grapes.”
DeYoung is far from the first musician to criticise the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame openly. In 2018, Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson would call the institution “an utter and complete load of bollocks” that was “run by a bunch of sanctimonious bloody Americans who wouldn’t know rock’n’ roll if it hit them in the face”.
He would go on to say, “If we’re ever inducted, I will refuse – they won’t bloody be having my corpse in there.”
MORE IN News
