Cheap Trick has been primed for the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame and Museum since 2002, but wasn't nominated until this year's ballot. The initial group, guitarist Rick Nielson, frontman Robin Zander, bassist Tom Peterson and drummer Bun E. Carlos are due to be inducted into the hall of fame in Brooklyn. The ceremony may very well be the first time that Carlos has been seen with the band in five years. In a strange twist, Carlos is still counted as a member of Cheap Trick but no longer performs with them, as Nielson's son Daxx replaced him in 2010. In a new interview, Cheap Trick talks about the band's induction into the hall of fame.
"It's kind of like baseball players and that hall of fame; if they wait too long people forget about the players from the past," Nielson said to Billboard. "So the fact that we could've gotten in or nominated years ago and we weren't forgotten, and to come up this year and now to make it, that's pretty great. I mean, we're just four guys from Rockford, Ill. It's not like we were destined for this or that."
Nielson further said to the publication, "We've always kind of gone out and been us; we didn't try to be anything but what we are. We didn't try to fit into anything. We just played our version of what we liked to do, so it's like, 'Wow, we're gonna be inducted into the thing.'"
The 31st class of inductees has just been announced today and it includes Cheap Trick, N.W.A., Chicago, Deep Purple and Steve Miller. Last year, the hall of fame saw Nirvana and Green Day inducted as members. But this year none of the inductees were in the technical year of eligibility that has been used in the past, as anyone inducted usually has to be admitted a full 25 years after their first single or album was released. Out of all of the inductees, Cheap Trick is leading the class for 2015.
