This past weekend Steve Miller after so many decades finally got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, like many artists before him he had some rather unsavory comments to make publicly about the institution. The Black Keys, the two man group [consisting of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney] that inducted him had some things to say in response.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Auerbach goes into detail about how poor the experience of meeting and inducting Miller was. Apparently he had never heard of them and when he did try to get to know them a bit it seemed rather in-genuine.
Auerbach says:
“We [Dan Auerbach & Patrick Carney] 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. He didn’t even figure out who we were.
Pat and I were both definitely disappointed, to say the least. But you never really know what to expect when you meet quote unquote “superstars.” Rock & roll superstars, it used to be different for them. Playing stadiums and selling millions and millions of albums. It’s almost like he doesn’t have respect for the younger generations and how hard it is in the business today. When he made his first record, he did it at Olympic Studios with Glyn Johns. Pat and I made our first record in a basement with broken gear.
The whole process was unpleasant. And for Pat and I, honestly, the most unpleasant part was being around him.
Everybody at the Rock Hall was great. It’s always so easy for a f#*$# 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 & 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. 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.”
First of all, this has to be one of the first times I have EVER heard ANYONE speak positively about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I'm a little surprised to say the least. Secondly, I'm not too surprised at Miller saying the stuff he did as he is nowhere near the first person to rag on the Hall. I do feel bad for The Black Keys that they had to feel so extremely let down by someone they idolized. It always sucks to find out your heroes aren't the people you think they are.
I am both surprised and not surprised that Miller didn't know who they were. Miller is old enough to where he probably doesn't listen to much in the way of anything new. At the same time however, I am a little surprised because The Black Keys have been one of the hugest acts in rock in the past decade. A great deal of their music SCREAMS blues and rock. Oh well. I do feel for those guys.
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