Foreigner are among the 16 artists named to the 2024 Inductee Class for The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Rick Wills, who left Foreigner in 1992, recently spoke with Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation. During their conversation, he shared his feelings on Foreigner finally being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
SiriusXM's Trunk Nation, hosted by Eddie Trunk, airs daily at 3 PM, ET on SiriusXM’s Faction Talk. Audio clip and transcription below courtesy of SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation.
Rick Wills: "We've waited basically 21 years for this to happen. So when it did happen, it was a surprise in a sense. But it was also a relief that we finally could join our peers in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame because I think we've definitely earned our place with the singles and the songs we've written and performed over the years. You know, what did we do wrong? I don't know. You know? But it is just weird sometimes how the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame voting goes and includes some people that, to me, don't seem to belong in there because they're not rock and roll, whereas we were. So, I don't know. It's a very difficult thing to understand sometimes. There's a personality thing that went on at some point with Jann Wenner and the band, and I don't know why, but he, I mean, I heard people say, “Oh, he said Foreigner will never get into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame unless hell freezes over.” Well, you know, that's a pretty unkind thing to say. But you know, at the same time, you know, when Jann’s in control, what can you do when that's going on? You know, he's obviously putting his finger on the thing and saying they're not gonna get in. But I don't want to get into that because now that we are voted in, and I'm so pleased that Peter Frampton has been included, one of my old associates as well. You know, it's about time for God's sake."
According to Billboard, Foreigner founder, Mick Jones, could be excused for feeling a bit bitter about the Rock Hall ignoring Foreigner for more than two decades of eligibility. But now that the group will be part of the class of 2024 this October, Jones — who put Foreigner together back in 1975 in New York — says he’s feeling “quite the opposite.”
“I think it means more to me now than perhaps 20 years ago,” Jones tells Billboard exclusively, via email due to a struggle with Parkinson’s disease that he revealed in February. “I’ve had a great career, and this is like the whipped cream and cherry on top. It’s something I will savor over the years. It’s a great honor to be included amongst all these great artists that have been inducted over the years."
Jones, 79, adds that despite Foreigner fans’ very vocal frustration at the band’s exclusion, he himself has kept a measured perspective about the prospects. “Occasionally it might have entered my mind,” he says. “I certainly haven’t been overly consumed by it. Every year was the same thing, so eventually I didn’t really worry about it. My dear friend Peter Frampton had been passed over all these years; I don’t think he has been overly consumed by it either.”
Read more at Billboard.com.
The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony will be held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, October 19.
