Think about it like this. Who hasn’t done The Twist? The legendary dance move defies age and social status. If you’ve been to a wedding, bar mitzvah, or sweet-16 party in the past 50 years, let’s face it, you’ve most likely done The Twist.
So then why isn’t Chubby Checker, singer of The Twist, which is the only single to top the Billboard Hot 100 two separate times, not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? That’s a question Checker himself would like answered, immediately.
The Rock and Roll pioneer wants in, and he wants in before it’s too late. “I don’t want to get in there when I’m 85 years old. I’ll tell them to drop dead, so you better do it quick while I’m still smiling,” Checker said while on the red carpet for the annual Songwriters Hall of Fame gala in New York.
The 72-year-old performed Let’s Twist Again at the gala. The hit single won a Grammy in 1962.
Checker sees his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snub as a hindrance to making money. “If you put me in when I’m too old to make a living, then it’s no good for me to be in there,” Checker said. “The Rolling Stones, they’re in there. The Beastie Boys are in there, they’re young. Hall and Oates were just in there and they’re still making money.”
Several artists have come out in defense of Checker, including Daryl Hall who was inducted this year alongside his music partner John Oates. Hall wondered aloud during his speech, “why isn’t he in?” when Checker’s name was mentioned.
#induct chubby checker Isn't it about time for R&R Hall of Fame to induct @chubby_checker ? Seriously? The Twist for pete's sake!
— Fred Willard (@Fred_Willard) June 13, 2014
Chubby Checker is not in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Outrageous.
— Ellen Barkin (@EllenBarkin) June 13, 2014
So far the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has not commented on Checker’s plea.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
