It was ALMOST a year with no controversy at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
On April 14, Bon Jovi, the Cars, Dire Straits, the Moody Blues, Nina Simone and Sister Rosetta Tharpe will be inducted into the Hall and everything has been very cordial between current members of bands and those who left, sometimes under pressured situations.
Ritchie Sambora will be on stage with Bon Jovi and the surviving members of the Cars and the Moody Blues are set to be there either in thank you speeches or with the band but Dire Straits will be without two members, Mark Knopfler, the most recognizable face from the band, and his brother David Knopfler, who was on their first two albums. There is no word on whether the sixth member being inducted, drummer Pick Withers, will be in attendance.
There’s no word on why Mark won’t be attending but Dave said it had to do with his travel costs. He wrote “In their wisdom, after promising to pay my expenses they reneged on their promise. I can well understand that with only $5 mil (million) a year in sponsorships and 100k ($100,000) a table and no fees for the artist that paying my taxi to the airport must have given them heart murmurs…”
Next week, I’ll be in Cleveland, Ohio being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fame at last! While it’s nice to receive recognition for my work, I really can’t take it seriously. That said, I’ve bought a new tuxedo and my signature now ends with the words “LIVING LEGEND”.
There’s a lot of conjecture on forums about whether the band is performing at the Hall of Fame, and if not why not, and who in the band are going to the ceremony. Well, here it is and it’s official: Myself, Guy Fletcher and John Illsley will attend the ceremony where we’ll be be performing an unplugged version of Telegraph Road, with me on harmonium, Guy on ukulele, John on banjo, and the vocal sung NOT by Stevie Wonder, as previously reported, which would, I admit, be ridiculous. No, after much deliberation we decided the best possible replacement for Mark would be the Red Army Choir, which took some organising, as you can imagine, what with the current political climate. I hear Trump swung it for us usin his hotline to Putin.
