Musicians and music fans alike have long wondered about the mysterious selection process for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, one which often leads to their favorites not being considered for induction and/or in the Hall itself.
Artists are eligible 25 years after the release of their first recording.
High on many rock fans’ lists of acts that should already be in the Hall are Canadian rockers Rush, who were first eligible for consideration in 1998.
“Honestly, we really, really don't care about it,” Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson tells Rolling Stone. “It's someone's thing, and they can do whatever they want with it. They can have whomever they like. It's their thing.”
“It's a little bit different here in Canada,” continues Lifeson. “We've received awards that mean an awful lot more to us than being in the Hall of Fame. We got the Governor General's Performing Arts Award a couple weeks ago. That's really the highest accolade you can get in this country for the performing arts, and it's recognized nationally, and I felt so proud as a Canadian to be in this esteemed group of artists that have been there for the last 20 years.”
After all these years, would Rush show up IF the Hall got its act together?
“I think we'd consider it at the time and just see where we're at,” says the guitarist. “I mean, you don't want to be rude, and we're Canadians, and we find it very difficult to be rude as much as we'd really like to. [Laughs] So we'd probably have to look at that one, if it ever came. I know there must be pressure from their end. We keep going on and getting more popular…”
“Yeah, look, there are a lot of other bands that should be in there before we should be in there,” sums up Lifeson. “If the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doesn't want us in there, that's fine. I don't care. It really, really doesn't matter at the end of the day. It's probably better left the way it is. There's more controversy for them and for us.”
Read the full Lifeson session at Rolling Stone here.
Rush just released their 20th studio album, “Clockwork Angels.” The project is on track to be the band’s highest US chart debut in 20 years, expected to debut in the top 5 on the Billboard album charts, and possibly land in the #2 spot.
Billboard reports Rush are on track to sell about 90,000 copies of the new project, which could mean a #2 debut behind Usher’s “Looking 4 Myself,” expected to sell around 120,000 to 130,000 copies to top the Billboard 200.
Billboard chart positions will be revealed on Wednesday ahead of the chart’s weekly release on Thursday.
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