Cher has spoken out against the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for continuously snubbing her.
The singer aired out her concerns on The Kelly Clarkson Show, where she was asked about her repeated absence from the Hall by Clarkson.
Clarkson began the chat by noting that Cher – whose holiday single ‘DJ Play a Christmas Song’ topped the charts this week – has managed to score a No. 1 hit across a whopping seven decades.
But the 77-year-old legend stepped into correct Clarkson when she said no one would ever accomplish the same feat. “Two of us have,” she said in a nod to The Rolling Stones, before cheekily adding: “It took four of them to be one of me!”
Her next comment, however, elicited audible gasps from the audience: “And I’m not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!”. The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Hall in 2010; Cher remains to be included in a cohort.
Cher then told the audience it was okay, going on to say: “You know what, I wouldn’t be in it now if they gave me a million dollars. I’m not kidding you.”
“I’m never going to change my mind,” she continued. “They can just you-know-what themselves.” She then said she “changed music forever” with her 1998 hit “Believe,” which went on to be one of the best-selling singles of all time and pioneered the use of AutoTune in music.
The Hall of Fame courted some controversy this year when one of its co-founders, Jann Wenner, said female and Black artists were “not intellectual enough” to be interviewed for his book The Masters. Wenner, who also co-founded publication Rolling Stone, believed Black and female artists weren’t considered masters in his eyes as they “didn’t articulate at that level”.
In response, the Hall of Fame removed Wenner from its board, and Wenner released his own statement of apology.
Bernie Taupin also called out Wenner during his induction acceptance speech into the 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: I’m honored to be in the class of 2023 alongside a group of such profoundly ‘articulate’ women and outstanding ‘articulate’ Black artists along with all of the other music masters here tonight.”
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