Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien revealed why Dr. Dre and more rap artists needs to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a new Esquire interview. Radiohead have been nominated for consideration for the 2018 class.
“As a British band, it’s one of those things that it’s very lovely to be nominated, but we don’t quite culturally understand it.
“It’s a very American thing. Us Brits are very bad at celebrating ourselves. One of the things I’ve always loved about coming over to America is American bands you can always have a really good chat with and you could talk.
“With British bands, there was a lot of hostility. It’s in our DNA to be a little ambivalent with award ceremonies. We haven’t had great experiences.
“I would never want to disrespect anything because obviously some amazing artists have been nominated. But if I’m honest I don’t understand it. It’s just kind of a British person going, ‘Okay, thanks, what does this mean?’
“It’s a little bit thin on black artists and hip-hop artists. I’m just speaking as a fan of American music, I would have thought that Dr. Dre should have been in there two years ago. His name should be first on the list way ahead of Radiohead.”
He said in a Rolling Stone interview a few months ago, “It was sort of like a dream. I kept on saying, ‘Oh I’d love to work with Dr. Dre.’
“I knew it would likely be shouted down or laughed at. Also, it might have been be a little bit forced.
“But at the time, in my head, it made perfect sense.
“The problem would have been finding modus operandi because Dre obviously works in a certain way.
“Could he have handled a rock band? Who knows? But it came from being a fan of N.W.A and his productions around that time.”
Fans online have clamored for 90’s alternative rock/Grunge bands to be nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame like Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, and Alice In Chains especially after the deaths of their lead singers Chris Cornell, Scott Weiland, and Layne Staley.
