Steve Miller delivered a spirited performance at the 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony where he was inducted into the Hall along with Chicago, Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, and NWA. But it was Miller's comments in the press room afterwards that stole the show.
"The whole process needs to be changed from top to bottom," Miller said when asked by a reporter about his past criticism of the Hall of Fame's selection methods. "They need to respect the artists they say they're honoring, and they don't." He referenced uncompleted legal work, and a neglect of licensing agreements on behalf of the Rock Hall. "They said 'you can have two tickets: one for you wife one for yourself, and if you want another it'll be $10,000.' They make this so unpleasant...."
Then a press officer stepped in to "wrap it up," to which the midnight toker responded with conviction, "No, we will not wrap this up. I'll wrap you up! You ought to sit down over there and learn something. This is how close this thing came to not happening because of the way the artists are being treated," he said, closing his fingers to a sliver in front of the press crowd. "Now I'll wrap this up."
On Wednesday, Miller told the Wall Street Journal he was originally interested in the museum. "Then it became an exclusive boys club, for a long time. Now it seems to be becoming a lot more inclusive. From my viewpoint, it doesn't need to be an elitist kind of thing."
His comments breached an otherwise jovial atmosphere which saw the induction of three immensely deserving bands and the Hall's fifth rap act, in addition to Steve Miller himself. But Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen did humorously echo one of Miller's points. While accepting his award Nielsen thanked the Hall of Fame for charging so much for tickets that he was forced not to bring his nine grandchildren.
Oddly, tickets for the Klipsch Audio-sponsored event were going for as low as $11 earlier this week on StubHub.
Before verbally lashing his hosts, someone asked the singer which song was most representative of Steve Miller. "This song," he responded, then belted out a full rendition of "Nature Boy" by Nat King Cole. He said it was his godfather Les Paul's favorite song.
According to USA Today, the Rock Hall issued a statement about the incident. "Rock and roll can ignite many opinions. It's what makes it so great. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was honored to induct Steve Miller tonight and congratulates him."
