It's no secret that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony this year was filled with controversy. Inductee Steve Miller called out the institution for being filled with "fat cats," trashing the induction committee and he even trashed the music industry as a whole for being sexist. But, what about those who inducted him, The Black Keys? In a new interview, a downtrodden Dan Auerbach revealed that he's been very "disappointed" with how Miller acted and treated him.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Auerbach said that he got bad vibes from Miller from the moment he met him, namely because Miller didn't bother to learn who The Black Keys were, despite knowing that the band would be giving him the Rock Hall honor.
"I guess we felt, I don't know, we read a lot of things and we got a really uncomfortable feeling when we first met Steve. He had no idea who we were. No idea. The first thing he told us was, 'I can't wait to get out of here.' He knew that we signed up to do this speech for him. And he made no effort to even -- he didn't even figure out who we were," Auerbach said.
He also called Miller out for saying the Rock Hall is sexist -- because it's not like the Steve Miller Band ever had any women in it. "I really don't know. It's weird. He called the whole thing 'boys' club.' The Steve Miller band has had 35 members and no women. It was just very disappointing," he said.
Throughout his interview, Auerbach is notably despondent and regretful for inducting Miller, who was a childhood hero to him. But, as a native of Northeast Ohio (where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is located), Auerbach is still a fan of the institution, though he's not likely to induct someone else again.
"Everybody at the Rock Hall was great. It's always so easy for a f*cking artist to rag on a big institution. It really is. And a lot of times you have to do that and it's necessary. But me personally, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has only ever really brought me joy since I was a teenager! I used to go there with my dad [when] they would do workshops. They're responsible for a lot of really positive things in my life," Auerbach said. "So when they asked us to do this, as much as I wanted to do it for Steve Miller, I wanted to do it for the Rock Hall. Because it has been a form of inspiration for me. It really has. I don't care if it sounds corny or not, but they have been. It just all felt pretty terrible."
