The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach Blasts Steve Miller After Rock & Roll Hall Of Flame Flap, Says He Regrets Inducting Him

Dan Auerbach wants his fans to know that he does not agree with Steve Miller’s nasty commentary about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Auerbach, who, along with Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, inducted Miller into the Rock Hall last week, says the “Fly Like An Eagle” singer does not speak for him and his band.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Dan Auerbach said he was disappointed by Miller’s public rant immediately following the ceremony and in the days following it, and that he now regrets accepting the invitation to inaugurate him into the famed Rock Hall. And while he agreed with Steve’s assertion that the induction process was “unpleasant,” Auerbach’s reason for finding it unpleasant was for a very different reason.

“[Steve Miller] said, ‘The whole process was unpleasant.’ And for Pat and I, the most unpleasant part was being around him.”

“We were there, unpaid, on our own free will, to come celebrate his achievements and spread the joy of rock ‘n’ roll,” Auerbach said. “To inspire kids to pick up guitars. To play music. And it felt like we were doing the opposite.”

While Dan Auerbach acknowledged that Steve Miller can say what he wants about the music industry, he made it clear that the 72-year-old rock legend does not speak for his band. Dan also said the entire incident was a wake-up call for both him and Carney.

“It was just a real eye-opener for us,” Dan said. ” 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. Because music is about sharing and passing on inspiration and that was his opportunity to do that; not just lashing out in a way that was just completely unfocused.”

One of Miller’s most confusing comments, in Dan Auerbach’s eyes, was his accusation that the Rock Hall is just a boys’ club.

“It’s weird. He called the whole thing “a boys’ club.” The Steve Miller band has had 35 members and no women. It was just very disappointing.”

Steve Miller made headlines last week after he blasted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame immediately following his induction ceremony. According to the Associated Press, ‘The Joker” singer told reporters that the organization doesn’t respect the artists they’re honoring, and he ranted about everything from the legal paperwork to the $10,000 price tag for extra tickets or his bandmates. He also questioned why he was even nominated because he has long made it known that he doesn’t get along with the organizers.

The rock legend also labeled the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a boys-only club of money grubbing fat cats, and he later told Rolling Stone that the entire music industry is made up of “gangsters and crooks.”

Dan Auerbach admitted that Steve Miller didn’t even know who the Black Keys were before they inducted him, and he said that while the classic rocker tried to apologize, it seemed “disingenuous.” Still, before they met the real Steve, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney introduced him as a “visionary,” a “virtuoso guitar player,” and “one of the most iconic and lasting songwriters of a generation.”

Dan Auerbach’s intro described Miller’s three-year stretch of radio dominance in the mid-1970s and a greatest hits album that sold 13 million copies. Dan and Pat even dubbed Miller rock royalty, declaring: “With over 30 million albums sold, Steve Miller should have his own damn parking spot at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame if he wants it.”

Sadly, less than a week later, Dan Auerbach is singing a very different tune.

Check out the video below for more on Dan Auerbach’s regrets about the Hall of Fame induction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHvftyOImeA&nohtml5=False

[Photo By Theo Wargo/Getty Images]