Todd Rundgren on Rock Hall: ‘I Have Offered to do Something Live’
Todd Rundgren will not be present for this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, but he confirms to UCR that he may still participate.
The veteran musician will be on tour and is scheduled to be in Cincinnati, Ohio on the same night (Oct. 30) that the inductions are happening four hours away in Cleveland. He's willing to do his part to make the evening special for his fans, but admits that discussions have been complicated.
"I don’t know. It’s been up and down and in and out with them. My relationship with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, quite obviously, it’s not copacetic," Rundgren explains to UCR. "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," he chuckles, as he continues. "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."
Despite his previous criticism of the Hall, Rundgren is trying to be careful with his commentary regarding the upcoming event. "I’ve striven since the nomination to just not say anything. Because I don’t want to rain on anybody else’s parade," the rocker explains. "A lot of artists take this seriously. Just because I don’t, doesn’t mean I should try and spoil it for them. So, you know, I haven’t really had much to say about it. I would just like it to elapse without any kind of bad vibes or anything being a result of it. I’d just like it to happen and be over with."
He punctuates that last thought with a wry laugh. The songwriter and producer is preparing to return to the road after nearly two years away, although he did mount a highly successful virtual tour earlier this year during the downtime.
According to a press release, Rundgren's the Individualist, a True Star tour will feature the rocker performing a full side of his 1973 album A Wizard, A True Star, followed by a second set of hits from the rest of his career
A July 31 post on social media gave fans the heads up that he wouldn't be attending the Rock Hall festivities in person. "For those of you thinking about buying tickets to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Todd will not be performing at the ceremony."
"True halls of fame are for retirees and dead people, because your legacy has been established," he told Billboard shortly after nominations were announced earlier this year. "I'm too busy working to worry about my legacy -- and plan to continue working until whenever."
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