Bun E. Carlos Confirms Cheap Trick Hall of Fame Reunion, Promises to ‘Make Nice’
Bun E. Carlos says he expects things to go smoothly when the original Cheap Trick lineup performs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, despite their past few years of estrangement.
"I'm assuming everybody is going to make nice," Carlos told Rolling Stone. "Me, too. I have no agenda here. I won't get up there and be like, 'F--- these guys!' ... I won't be like, 'Let me set the record straight, people!' F--- that."
Cheap Trick have been performing with co-founding guitarist Rick Nielsen's son Daxx on drums since 2010, after Carlos said ongoing disagreements with singer Robin Zander came to a sudden head over scheduling a series of shows in tribute to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
"We were offered 100 Sgt. Pepper shows in Las Vegas with a huge back-end," Carlos explained. But Zander "only wanted to do 50. I said, 'Why do you only want to do 50?' He said, 'I have to take my daughter to kindergarten in September. I don't want her to go to school in Las Vegas.' I smartly replied something like, 'We're scheduling shows around your daughter's kindergarten classes?' Then he was like, 'F--- you, you f---ing a--hole.' Then I just hung up the phone." As Carlos noted, "Me and the singer don't get along very good."
Carlos pointed out that he hasn't spoken to his former bandmates, outside of courtroom proceedings, since then. They ultimately worked out an unwieldy agreement in which Carlos remains part owner of Cheap Trick, earning regular stipends, but he doesn't actually play with the group. That is, until next April, when Carlos now confirms the co-founding four members will take the stage together.
Still, a recent court action – brought by Carlos when he said "the check stopped coming" – only served to further chill relationships. The idea of appearing more regularly with his old band, he admitted, has never seemed more remote.
"I don't see it happening," Carlos said. "Rick's kid got a gig here, and Dad loves that. ... Even besides that, any friendship we had went away when I had to file a federal lawsuit. That cost a bucket of f---ing money. Going after these guys wasn't pleasant. The friendship sort of frittered away there."
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