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If you went to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony on October 30 2021 hoping to see Todd Rundgren perform and give a speech over his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, you probably were dreaming. In true rock and roll rebellion form, Mr. Todd Rundgren skipped this year’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Ceremony in protest or rebellion or whatever you want to call it, staying true to his long time criticism of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Obviously for someone who has been highly critical of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it would have been hypocritical for Todd Rundgren to show up and accept his induction. Todd Rundgren is defiantly not a hypocrite. Todd Rundgren is a rock and roll rebel in true spirit. The man is the real deal. He has always banged his drum the way he wanted to.
To understand Todd Rundgren’s rebellious spirit all one has to do is take a look back at his musical career. The man has never allowed himself to be pigeonholed into any one style of musical genre. If Todd Rundgren wanted to rock out as hard as a Black Sabbath or a Led Zeppelin and release heavy music, he did so. If he wanted to sound as sweet as a Carole King or a Laura Nyro, he was on it perfectly. If he wanted to release pop gems like a Beatles song, he did so with stunning success. The man could write and record original music in any style and have amazing success with it all.
No record company was ever able to tell Todd Rundgren that his recordings didn’t fit what they wanted or they were not going to release something like that. Todd Rundgren released album after album of material that would be a 360 from his previous albums. Even his records were filled with songs of radicle varying musical styles on the same record. Listen to the difference between the songs “Little Red Lights,” and “I Saw The Light,” on his legendary Something/Anything? album. It sounds like two different artists.
The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame’s snub of Todd Rundgren all these years has been a joke. How could it have taken this long to honor someone like Todd Rundgren? We have heard from those who vote for the inductees that the problem is there are only so many slots open a year so thats why artists like Todd Rundgren get passed on year after year. Well if thats the issue, they need to change the amount of artists who get inducted.
Instead of just a one night ceremony, why not have a three day weekend ceremony. The NFL Draft celebrates their draft for three days on television live. Why not set up a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Weekend Ceremony over three days and induct 50 artists, musicians, songwriters, producers, and anyone who has contributed immensely to rock and roll every year. It’s sad that some artists who finally get inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame are dead by the time they make it. Look at baseball’s Hall Of Fame rules. A player only had to play for ten years and be retired for five before they can get nominated for the Hall Of Fame.
To get nominated for induction into The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame it has to have been at least twenty five years before your first album came out that you are eligible. Thats too long. That’s like saying The Beatles were not worthy of Hall Of Fame status in the 70s because we were still trying to figure out if their output would be significant over time. Give me a break. In rock and roll all it takes is one album or even one song to change everything, “Johnny B Goode,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” Sgt. Pepper, Born To Run, Freak Out, Dark Side Of The Moon, Bat Out Of Hell, Something/Anything? You don’t have to prove it for twenty five years. In Rock And roll impact is often immediate.
The Rock And roll Hall Of Fame was a great idea. Its a beautiful building and a wonderful place to visit. It’s truly magnificent that there is a cathedral to celebrate rock and roll history. However, it’s the fans that the Hall has misunderstood. Without the fans there would be no rock and roll. So the Hall of Fame has to listen to the fans, they are the ones that know rock and roll better than anyone else. The fans are the ones who know what Todd Rundgren has done for rock and roll. They are the ones that brought all his brilliant solo albums, his records with Nazz and Utopia and of course all the legendary albums he produced like Bat Out Of Hell, We’re An American Band, Wave and so many more.
When Todd Rundgren snubbed the Rock And Roll Ceremony he was not just speaking for himself, he was speaking for the fans. Now it’s time for the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame to listen to them.
Todd Rundgren Skips Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2021
Mr. Kachejian, I truly admire the recent article you wrote about Todd Rundgren/Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I can totally identify with your comments and agree completely. A very enjoyable read. Thank you.
Non Rock and Rollers being inducted is stupid. Garage Rock bands nobody has ever heard of are more worthy than such people because they play Rock. Does the Hockey Hall of Fame induct figure skaters ? Does the Baseball Hall of Fame induct cricket players ? I’m not going to look into it but I highly doubt it. The Todd Rundgren situation has been absurd for years and still is even if people think it’s now fixed. There are plenty of other examples, but Todd’s is at or near the top of the list and happens to be glaring at present. If it hasn’t happened already, some should make it known they decline their nomination, “disrespectfully,” in fact.