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Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductee Reveals Why He Won't Attend Ceremony
Chubby Checker, the singer and dancer known for his iconic 1960 cover of 'The Twist,' has spilled on why he's skipping his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this year following a nearly four-decade-long wait.
'I told my manager, I said, 'Make sure when we go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the induction, that I'm doing what I love doing the most: Being in front of an audience. A live audience, not a television audience,'' said Checker in a clip shared by Future Rock Legends from a show in Des Plaines, Illinois last month.
After his manager booked him a show, he claimed the hall told him to 'forget' about his gig.
'We never forget about gigs,' Checker stressed.
The 83-year-old rocker, whose birth name is Ernest Evans, recalled his childhood hopes of becoming a 'star' and said every time he plays, his 'dream' is 'renewed.'
He went on to dismiss critics who may see him as 'old,' 'retired' and 'not doing anything' on the day of the ceremony.
Checker was eligible for induction into the hall since its first class in 1986, but he wasn't nominated until this year.
Over the course of his career, Checker helped popularize the Pony and Limbo dance crazes with his songs 'Pony Time' and 'Limbo Rock,' respectively.
His cover of 'The Twist' — written and released by 1990 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Hank Ballard and his group, the Midnighters (who were inducted separately as a group in 2012) — became a smash hit in 1960.
The song notably topped Billboard's list of all-time No. 1 singles on its Hot 100 charts from 2008 through most of 2020 before The Weeknd's 'Blinding Lights' took the crown that September.
Checker — who once protested the lack of radio play for 'The Twist' and more of his songs outside the induction ceremony in the early '00s — will be inducted into the hall along with the likes of Cyndi Lauper, OutKast, the White Stripes, Joe Cocker and Soundgarden at a ceremony in Los Angeles this November.
At his Illinois show, Checker accepted a statue from the hall before a sea of adoring fans, noting that he'll now be 'illuminated by all the good things' that have happened in his life every time he travels through the hall's home of Cleveland, Ohio.
'I am so thankful, I appreciate it. And I can't say how wonderful it is that this has happened to me, and I'm alive to enjoy it,' Checker said.
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