Taking the opportunity of Deep Purple’s third nomination for induction to the Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame, Ian Gillan
slammed the insitution’s committee as arrogant and rude. Talking to Classic Rock the singer said: “They’re the kind of people that, having seen A Hard Day’s Night, decided that the Monkees would be America’s equivalent to the Beatles. They’ve no idea what goes on in the big, wide world outside of their self-arbitrating surroundings.” To me, those people are bloody arrogant and rude.” He also said that he heard a committee member saying that the reason for Deep Purple’s dismiss was that they were considered a “one-hit wonder”. Gillan expressed his gratitude for the artists that supported his band for not getting into the Hall Of Fame and he concluded:“I’m sure that my mum would have been pleased and it all sounds very grand,” he said, “but just take a look at who’s in it. I once wrote a song called ‘No Laughing in Heaven’ which was about not wanting to go to heaven due to the company I’d be keeping, and with a few exceptions, the Hall of Fame is pretty much the same thing.”
