Is todd rundgren in the hall of fame

Todd Rundgren Rock & Roll Doesn't Need Hall of Fame!!! Skipping His Own Induction

10/28/2021 1:40 PM PT

TMZ.com

Todd Rundgren will unsurprisingly not be attending the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony where he will be honored. However, there is a chance he will appear in some capacity during the ceremony.

Rundgren is set to perform a show in Cincinnati on October 30, which is the same night the induction ceremony will be held in Cleveland. He told Ultimate Classic Rock, “I have offered to do something live for them from my venue. I will stop my show and acknowledge the award and mostly acknowledge my fans, because it’s for them. They’re the ones who wanted it, and now they’ve got it. So it’s a celebration for them, not so much for me. I’ve been totally willing to do that. But for me to do something extraordinary for the Hall of Fame would just be hypocritical. You know, I’m too much on the record about my feelings.”

That’s certainly putting it lightly. One of the issues Rundgren has with the Rock Hall stems from when he was first nominated in 2019, place third in the fan vote but failed to get inducted. As previously reported, he told Billboard in May, “They essentially hosed my fans. That made me angry, and I had to tell [the fans] that it was pointless casting votes, ’cause it really doesn’t count for anything.”

Rundgren’s other big issue with the Rock Hall is one that many have and that’s the induction of non-rock acts.

“I’m a big Dionne Warwick fan, but name me one Dionne Warwick rock n’ roll song,” said Rundgren following the announcement of the 2021 Rock Hall nominees. “While I’m aware of Fela Kuti, I can’t name a single musician who’s ever cited him as a principal influence. Year by year it makes even less sense, so why would I be more excited about it or suddenly change my mind? Why don’t they just start inducting blues guys? Why do they have to go to Dionne Warwick or Mary J. Blige?”

2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees

Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock news blogger who's well versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice.

Todd Rundgren was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tonight by Patti Smith.

"He was unflinching in the face of new technology. He would just bend it in his hands," said Smith, whose fourth album Wave was produced by Rundgren. "He would tell the band, 'If you know what you want, I will help you. If you don't know what you want, I'll do it for you.'"

She spoke via a deeply personal pre-taped interview; others who worked with Rundgren, including Daryl Hall, also recorded messages. "So many musicians are fucking boring," said Hall, who worked with Rundgren on Hall and Oates' 1974 LP War Babies. "You never know what Todd's going to do."

Rundgren began his career with the garage/psych-rock band Nazz, who recorded the first version of his future hit “Hello It’s Me” on their self-titled 1968 debut. But Rundgren went solo in the following decade, maintaining a prolific pace and eclectic style: Under his own name and with his band Utopia, he branched out from art-rock to and soft-rock to techno and prog.

He also became an in-demand producer, working on now-classic LPs like Grand Funk Railroad's We're an American Band, the New York Dolls' self-titled project, the Psychedelic Furs (1982's Forever Now) and, famously, Meat Loaf's blockbuster Bat Out of Hell.

Smith remembered that their only rule in the studio was "No grown ups allowed." "He's ever curious, ever youthful, ever defiant," Smith said tonight. "He has been our alchemist, our wizard, our true star."

Rundgren was on the Rock Hall ballot for a third straight year, though he’d been eligible since 1993. He did not attend the Rock Hall ceremony due to his ongoing tour, but he's long been a critic of the entire process. His induction film included archival footage with a cutting comment from Rundgen: "If I was nominated, I wouldn't run," he said. "If I was elected, I would not serve."

Rundgren admitted in a September interview with UCR, however, that the ceremony was a “celebration” for fans, if not as much for him. "They’re the ones who wanted it," he said. "And now they’ve got it.”

The 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will air on Nov. 20 on HBO alongside a radio simulcast on SiriusXM Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Radio.

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