Steve Miller says he is pleased with news of his induction into the 2016 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, even though he’s been eligible for more than 20 years.
“I started playing rock & roll in 1956, so I've been here from the beginning,” Miller tells Rolling Stone. “I've seen it go through everything, from the time in Chicago to out to San Francisco to all these different phases. It's been a great, long life of playing music, and I'm really honored to be inducted. I'm quite pleased.
“It's just taken such a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time,” he adds. “After a while you just kind of go, "This is taking an awful long time!" I'm glad they took their time. I'm sure they made the right decision.”
Miller will enter the Hall alongside Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, Chicago and N.W.A. The guitarist has been eligible for entry since 1993 and the 2016 honor marks his first nomination.
“I kind of enjoyed having people complain that I wasn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame more than I think I'll like being in it,” says Miller. “I'm sure now that I'm in it, I'll be forgotten about and nobody will have anything to complain about.”
The Steve Miller Band has had 25 members in the past five decades, but the guitarist will stand alone at the podium next April as the sole inductee.
"I think that's probably the right choice," he explains. "Right before I moved out to San Francisco, I played in Buddy Guy's band. One night, he said to me, 'Listen, man, when you get out there, call it the Steve Miller Band. You're going to go through lots and lots of musicians, and you don't want everyone to get all upset when you fire your bass player.' It turned out to be really good advice.
“I imagine anyone that was ever in the Steve Miller Band will feel that they were definitely part of what made the band, and of course I couldn't have done it without any of them. It wasn't my decision, and I didn't have any input into any of it. If they had asked me what do, I think I would have said, ‘Here's a list of everyone that was ever in my band. They all ought to be here.’"
The 31st Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, April 8 at the Barclays Center in New York and will be broadcast by HBO in the spring.
Tickets for the event will go on sale in February.
See also:
Deep Purple, Cheap Trick among 2016 Rock Hall Of Fame inductees
Steve Miller thanks fans for Rock Hall nomination
Deep Purple, Yes & Cheap Trick lead 2016 Rock Hall nominees
VIDEO: Steve Miller Band classic featured in Taco Bell commercial
Search The Steve Miller Band at hennemusic
