Steve Miller Says He Wishes Elton John Had Inducted Him Into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Regrets Nothing About His Rock Hall Rant

Steve Miller has had one heck of a week. The classic rock legend not only blasted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after his induction ceremony, but he also trashed the entire recording industry. In a new interview with Billboard, Miller says he wouldn’t take back anything he has said about the Rock Hall or the record business — and he has said a lot. Miller also admits he didn’t want the Black Keys involved in his induction ceremony, which isn’t surprising given their comments in the aftermath of the mutually unpleasant event.

Miller told Billboard that he has received hundreds of emails from his peers thanking him for speaking the truth.

“I spoke the truth as I experienced it, and as I have experienced it over the years,” Steve said. “Basically, as everybody that has had a taste of the record business knows, they are gangsters and crooks.”

Steve Miller cited his own naivety when he first started out in the business, but he made it clear that the industry is full of sharks.

“I was pretty naïve when I started and, over the years, my record companies have grossed over $1 billion from my work, and I’ve spent 50 years auditing them to force them to pay me what my contracts call for,” Miller said. “Millions and millions and millions of records worldwide…it’s just been 50 years of auditing and arguing and lawsuits. I’m just a walking library of what it’s like dealing with a business that’s designed to cheat. ”

Steve Miller said when he looked out into the Hall of Fame audience, all he saw was a bunch of people he had been fighting with for decades

“I looked out there and I didn’t really see any friendly faces — I basically saw people I had been suing and auditing for years.”

Miller also said he had a personal request for who he wanted to induct him into the Hall of Fame — and it wasn’t the Black Keys, a band he had never even heard of.

“I wanted to ask Elton John to induct me because Elton knows my music and loves my music and we’re friends, and I thought he would probably have a good historical perspective. But they said, ‘no, the Black Keys are going to do it,’ and I said, ‘well, OK,’ and they said ‘there’s no negotiation on any of it, that’s the way we do it, that’s the way we’ve always done it, that’s the way it’s gonna be.'”

Given the Black Keys comments about Miller after they inducted him — frontman Dan Auerbach said he now regrets even doing it — Miller admits that the young band’s experience was probably as bad as his own.

“I think their experience was as bad as mine,” Steve said. “It shouldn’t have happened, and if the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would have had good enough manners to at least introduce us, we’d probably be friends… I don’t know them, and I don’t have any bad feelings about them at all. I feel badly for them.”

After Steve Miller’s rants to the Rock Hall press earlier this week, the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach told Rolling Stone that he and bandmate Patrick Carney was disappointed by Miller’s reaction to what should have been considered an honor.

“[Steve Miller] said, ‘The whole process was unpleasant,” Auerbach said. “And for Pat and I, the most unpleasant part was being around him…It was just a real eye-opener for us. Because as we get older, I hope that when I’m in my twilight years, I can look back and be grateful to the people who have appreciated me and to be able to give back.”

Take a look at the video below to see Steve Miller taking aim at the Rock Hall right after the ceremony.

[Photo By Theo Wargo/Getty Images]