Rock icon on Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction: ‘We are not coming. We have a gig’

When it came to his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Chubby Checker … well, his well come with a twist.

That is because the 83-year-old legendary singer is refusing to go. In fact, Checker has already received his trophy, as officials from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame delivered it to him during his July 27 show in Des Plaines, Illinois.

The induction ceremony is set for November, but Checker instructed his people to make sure he had a show scheduled for that night. And, it turns out, he had some sound reasoning.

“You run into things that you didn’t run into when you weren’t an older person,” he told fans as he received his trophy. “I told my manager, ‘Make sure when we go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and he induction that I’m doing what I love doing the most, being in front of an audience. A live audience, not a television audience.”

When his manager got him booked up for the night, Checker said he told the Hall, “We’re not coming. We have a gig.”

According to Parade, Checker was worried about how he might be perceived.

“Chubby goes to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he’s an old guy, he’s probably retired, he’s not doing anything,” he said. “Maybe he has crutches and he’s coming to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to get his little award and go back home.

“I said, ‘No, let’s be doing a show like I’m doing today,’” he continued. “This shows that I’m alive and well and the audience is wonderful and my dream is still being fulfilled, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is happening all at the same time.”

And Checker made it clear that he was very appreciative of the recognition despite turning down the offer to attend the ceremony.