Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Cheap Trick drummer talks 2016 Rock Hall induction reunion



Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos says he expects to reunite with his bandmates to perform at the group’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next spring.

“Yeah. As far as I know,” Carlos tells Rolling Stone. “The Hall of Fame is inducting the four original members, and I assume that is who they want to get up there and play.”

Carlos left the touring lineup in 2010, was replaced by guitarist Rick Neilsen’s son Daxx, and then found himself suing his own group for monies owed while remaining a one quarter partner in the Cheap Trick corporation.

“Me and the singer don't get along very good,” explains the drummer about a falling out with Robin Zander that led to the split. “A couple of days before Austin City Limits in 2010, we had a big argument on the phone about scheduling for the summer and all this kind of stuff. We'd argued before over 40 years; all of us had.

“In the middle of the night, he called the office and said, ‘I can't work with this guy. He hates me.’ He didn't want me at Austin City Limits. I said, ‘OK, if you don't want me there, we need to work out some kind of arrangement since I'm a quarter member of the band.’

“We just drew up a contract that said, ‘I don't tour with the band, but I'm a full member of the band.’ We've got all these corporations. The touring company said, ‘If you quit touring, you lose your vote.’ I wasn't going to let that happen. I'm a full member of the band.”


“So we drew up a piece of paper,” Carlos continues, “and a couple years later the checks stopped coming. And then I had to sue them in federal court to get my money back. We did a settlement last spring and its all hunky dory. That's the short story.”

The Rockford, IL band will enter the Hall during an April 8 ceremony at New York’s Barclays Center alongside Deep Purple, Steve Miller, Chicago and N.W.A.

“I'm assuming everybody is going to make nice,” adds Carlos. “Me too. I have no agenda here. I won't get up there and be like, ‘F**k these guys!’ I'm not Jeff Beck. He got up and nailed the Yardbirds.”

Cheap Trick celebrated news of their induction by offering fans a free download of “No Direction Home”, the lead single from their forthcoming album “Bang Zoom Crazy…Hello.”


See also:

Cheap Trick celebrate Rock Hall induction with free download
Cheap Trick guitarist speechless over 2016 Rock Hall induction
Deep Purple, Cheap Trick among 2016 Rock Hall Of Fame inductees
Cheap Trick comment on Rock Hall nomination
Search Cheap Trick at hennemusic