5 Rockstars Who Can’t Care Less About Rock Hall Of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is one of the biggest honors in the music industry, celebrating artists who have left a lasting impact on rock music. While many musicians are thrilled to be inducted, others couldn’t care less. Over the years, some of the most legendary rock stars have rejected the honor or refused to attend the ceremony. Here’s a look at a few who snubbed the Rock Hall in style.

1. Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)
When Pink Floyd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, fans hoped for a full band reunion. But that wasn’t happening—Roger Waters wanted nothing to do with it.

Waters and David Gilmour had been locked in a bitter legal battle for years after Waters left the band, fighting over whether Gilmour could continue using the Pink Floyd name. By the time the induction rolled around, the animosity was so deep that Waters skipped the ceremony entirely. The remaining three members showed up, but Waters didn’t seem to care.

2. Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses)
Axl Rose took his Hall of Fame snub to another level by publicly questioning the entire institution. Before Guns N’ Roses was inducted in 2012, Rose made it clear he wanted no part of it. He released a statement saying he didn’t understand how the Hall made money, who chose the inductees, or why they decided who was “rock” enough to be included.

“I didn’t understand ‘who chooses the voters and why anyone or this board decides who, out of all the artists in the world that have contributed to this genre, officially ‘rock’ enough to be in the Hall?’”

Despite his absence, the rest of Guns N’ Roses performed at the ceremony.

3. Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane)
Grace Slick, the powerful frontwoman of Jefferson Airplane, took a different approach to rejecting the Rock Hall. The band was inducted in 1996, but Slick chose not to attend—not because of a grudge, but because she believed rock musicians should stay retired once they leave the stage.

“I’m not comfortable being an old person on stage,” she explained in an interview with Forbes. “Rock is like sports. You have a certain run, then get out.”

For Slick, rock had its time and place, and she had no interest in reliving it.

4. Neil Young (Buffalo Springfield)
Neil Young had no issue being inducted as a solo artist in 1995—he even participated in the ceremony. But two years later, when Buffalo Springfield was inducted in 1997, he took a completely different stance.

Rather than attending, Young rejected the event entirely, saying he didn’t want to be part of a “cheap awards show.” Young stated:

“This presentation is in direct opposition to what I believe.
“Although I accept the honor, in the name of rock and roll, I decline to take part in this TV presentation and be trotted out like some cheap awards show. There are already too many of these.”

For Young, rock music wasn’t about glitz, glamour, or Hollywood-style ceremonies.

5. The Sex Pistols
Of all the rock stars who turned down the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Sex Pistols took the most brutal approach. When the punk legends were inducted in 2006, they didn’t just decline—they publicly mocked the Hall of Fame in an expletive-filled statement posted on their website.

Instead of showing up to accept the honor, they let Rock Hall founder Jann Wenner read their harshly worded rejection letter on stage. It was an unforgettable moment of pure punk rebellion.

The Sex Pistols’ response summed up everything they stood for—anti-establishment, anti-ceremony, and anti-conformity.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: A Badge of Honor or a Waste of Time?

For some musicians, being inducted into the Rock Hall is a dream come true. For others, it’s just another meaningless industry event they want nothing to do with. Whether it’s bad blood between bandmates, a refusal to “sell out,” or a belief that rock should be left in the past, these artists made it clear where they stood.

One thing is for sure: rock and roll has always been about rebellion—and these musicians lived up to that spirit, even when rejecting an award.