The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony brought out lots of celebrities and musicians on Saturday night when inducting the 2024 class. While some might argue with some of the choices the Rock Hall makes as far as who gets in and who doesn't, they definitely do a great job with the yearly event. Sometimes, any issues aren't with the museum but with the musical artists themselves.
Such was the case with Foreigner. Two original members were not at the ceremony. One was guitarist Mick Jones. He had an extremely valid excuse for not going, as he is battling Parkinson's disease. The band let fans know about the diagnosis earlier in 2024.
Drummer Dennis Elliott's reason for missing the event was a bit different, however. And, well...odd. Elliott posted on Facebook last week that he was skipping the induction ceremony because he got the event's schedule too late. This seems a bit strange as every other member of Foreigner who was expected to be in Cleveland, other than Jones, also would have gotten the schedule at the same time.
Why Foreigner drummer Dennis Elliott chose to skip the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony
The other members were there, but not Elliott. He appeared to possibly be hung up on the fact that only band members were expected to walk the red carpet before the festivities and not their spouses. To be fair, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame could change their policy so that significant others could walk the carpet as well, but that is the way the museum has always done it and few, if any, have had issues with it.
Elliott wrote on Facebook, "Dear Foreigner Fans & Friends, Don't look too hard, we will not be there. We were finally given the schedule last night, and it is not to our satisfaction. So we are staying home. We have been asking for this for weeks, and they have waited until the very last minute to send it knowing we were all packed and going to bed. Totally unacceptable to us. Hope you have a good time. Dennis."
The drummer sounds like he really just did not want to go, to be honest. The museum probably does not secretly harbor a grudge against Elliott or anyone else, and Elliott makes it sound as if the Rock Hall was waiting until people were asleep to issue the schedule. That seems silly.
Ultimately, Foreigner fans were the ones left out. Many might have wanted to see Elliott with the rest of the band again. He chose not to go because he got his feelings hurt. That is not a good excuse.