Chubby Checker Won’t Attend His Rock Hall of Fame Induction

Photo: S. Kuelcue/Shutterstock

Well, he’ll have a great story next year when asked what he did last summer. Chubby Checker, one of this year’s honorees at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, is refusing to attend his November induction ceremony despite decades of campaigning for the award. And here’s another twist for the dance floor: The organization has accepted his decision and already presented him with his trophy. The unprecedented turn of events occurred at Checker’s July 27 concert in Des Plaines, Illinois, which was first reported by Future Rock Legends. The 83-year-old singer gave a short acceptance speech to a Rock Hall camera crew and discussed his rationale in an interview following the performance, in which he detailed telling his manager to double-book him the night of the ceremony. “You run into things that you didn’t run into when you weren’t an older person,” Checker explained from the stage. “I told my manager, ‘Make sure when we go to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the induction that I’m doing what I love doing the most, being in front of an audience. A live audience, not a television audience.’” His team honored the request, and he sent his apologies to the organization: “We’re not coming. We have a gig.”

Checker’s motivation for the snub, however, also touched on a fear of the public’s perception of the current state of his career, despite the fact he’s still touring and performing on the road with vigor. “Chubby goes to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he’s an old guy, he’s probably retired, he’s not doing anything. Maybe he has crutches and he’s coming to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to get his little award and go back home,” he admitted. “I said, ‘No. Let’s be doing a show like I’m doing today.’ This shows that I’m alive and well and the audience is wonderful and my dream is still being fulfilled, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is happening all at the same time.” In his separate speech to the official crew who brought the trophy, Checker added “how wonderful it is that this has happened to me and I’m alive to enjoy it.”

Inductees choosing to eschew their award isn’t inherently unusual for the Rock Hall — Carol Kaye, the Wrecking Crew bass deity, turned down her own induction this year because “it wasn’t something that reflects the work that studio musicians do” — but presenting an artist with their de facto segment, months before the ceremony airs, is an uncharted placation. (The Rock Hall hasn’t responded to a request asking for additional comment.) In recent years, artists such as Todd Rundgren, Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler, and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke have simply refused to attend their induction due to lack of interest. Still, if they’re taking requests on how to best allot Checker’s time, Bruno Mars performing both “Twists” would be an inspired choice, or they could just divert the whole segment to a supersize Warren Zevon medley of “Desperados Under the Eaves” with a full orchestra.

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