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Moody Blues Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Snub ‘Not Important’ To Band Anymore

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 11:42 PST, Dec 25, 2016

The Moody Blues have once again been overlooked for a nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but the group’s longtime lead singer and guitarist Justin Hayward isn’t at all upset about the decades-long snub. In an interview with Billboard, Hayward said a nomination for the English band into the high-profile organization is meaningless at this point and that he only feels bad for the diehard Moody Blues fans who’ve been campaigning on behalf of the group for years.

“It’s not important to me,” Hayward told Billboard of a nomination into the American-based Rock Hall.

“I’m a committed European. I live in Europe, and there’s not a great respect for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, really; if it’s ever mentioned, which is rarely ever, it’s more like, ‘Why should they have a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?’ So it doesn’t impact my life at all.”

Hayward admits that while a Rock Hall honor doesn’t mean all that much in Europe, he knows it is “very important” for Moody Blues fans in the United States. Still, the music legend holds little hope that the honor will ever be bestowed upon the group best known for the 1967 classic “Nights in White Satin.”

“I think it would be really difficult for the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to include us now because there’s been so much pressure from fans,” Justin said.

“I’m not saying that hasn’t helped — but maybe I am saying that hasn’t helped. I just can’t see it, to be quite honest. I think it’s too late now.”

The Moody Blues Rock Hall snub has been a recurring theme over the past few years. In 2012, Hayward told Billboard most Europeans have never heard of the Rock Hall.

“It doesn’t impact anybody,” he said.

“It’s an American thing, really. If you want to run a hall of fame and get people coming through and it’s a great tourist attraction, that’s fine, but it doesn’t impact me at all.”

Hayward isn’t the only Moody Blues member who thinks the group has little chance of ever being inducted into the exclusive music-themed club. In an interview with Glide magazine, Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge said the group’s unique brand of “Progressive rock” just isn’t the Rock Hall’s cup of tea.

“They always have been a little touchy about the kind of Progressive kind of rock,” Edge told Glide of why he thinks the Moody Blues have been repeatedly snubbed by the Rock Hall.

The Moody Blues have been inducted into the Vocal Hall of Fame and they have had more than a dozen Top 40 hits in their catalog, including their signature ballad “Nights in White Satin” and the 1986 MTV hit “Your Wildest Dreams.”

But it has been 13 years since the Moody Blues released any new music, and now it sounds like the group’s last record, 2003’s December, could be their last.

Hayward told Billboard he doesn’t see himself getting together with Edge and fellow bandmate John Lodge to record any new Moody Blues songs in the near future. Still, the Moody Blues continue to pull from their extensive songbook as they remain a popular touring act. In addition to their live shows, the group hosts an annual Moody Blues Cruise, which will next depart from Miami on Jan. 2.

While The Moody Blues won’t be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, Pearl Jam, Journey, Yes, ELO, Joan Baez and the late Tupac Shakur will be added as the organization’s newest members in April.

Take a look at the video below to see the Moody Blues performing “Nights in White Satin.”

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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