Every Moment Has A Song

Why is Jethro Tull not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

(Answered by Sandro Kovalev)

Mostly it’s because of politics…the nominating commitee (or inner circle, if you will) of this institution doesn’t like Jethro Tull, or any other band who went above and beyond what they consider to be rock and roll. That weirdo Jann Wenner (who I believe is the president of the HOF, or chairman or whatever), has made his bias against certain genres quite clear…him and his HOF committee generally do not like the more complex, esoteric rock offshoots such as prog rock, electronic, or heavy metal.

Most rock journalists like Wenner and Robert Christgau believe those styles are a betrayal of what true rock and roll is meant to be, which in their minds means working-class, rebellious, danceable, and unintellectual. With that said, Genesis, Yes, Rush, and the Moody Blues have all been inducted in recent years – probably not because Wenner and his cronies have newfound respect for prog, more likely it’s because these bands have topped fan polls year after year, to the point where the committee realized how out-of-touch they were by continuing to weaponize their personal biases in order to keep these groups from being inducted.

Tull have been eligible for decades and haven’t even ever been nominated, but along with King Crimson and possibly Kansas, they are the only other big name holdovers from the prog era that still has an outside shot (unfortunately I don’t see ELP getting the nod even though they deserve it, and most of the other acts like Gentle Giant and Van Der Graaf Generator are not well-known outside of prog circles).

Anyway, while I’m sure Ian, Martin and Co would appreciate the temporary boost in interest that comes from being inducted, and many fans want their favorite band to be recognized, does it really matter if Tull has the seal of approval from that group of dunces over at the HOF? With some of the nonsense they’ve been inducting in recent years, it might be better to not be inducted.