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Iconic 1960’s rockstar who started the popular dance craze “The Twist,” Chubby Checker, is finally being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but he won’t be attending the ceremony.<\/p>\n
“I told my manager, \u2018Make sure when we go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the induction, that I\u2019m doing what I love doing the most: Being in front of an audience. A live audience, not a television audience,'” the 83-year-old rock legend said in a video circulating on social media<\/a>. “So what she did [was], she got me a show. And the Rock Hall says, ‘We want you to come here this day and be here.'”<\/p>\n Checker informed the Hall of Fame that he would not be attending, to which they responded, “You\u2019re what?”<\/p>\n “We’re not coming. We have a gig,” he recalled. “‘Well, forget about your gig,'” they reportedly said. “We never forget about gigs.”<\/p>\n The singer — who’s real name is Ernest Evans — added, “Let\u2019s be doing a show like I’m doing today to show I\u2019m alive and well and the audience is wonderful and my dream is being fulfilled and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is happening all at the same time.”<\/p>\n Checker will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in November, after nearly four decades of eligibility. Other iconic singers including Cyndi Lauper, Joe Cocker, Outkast, and the White Stripes will be inducted alongside Checker.<\/p>\n Checker’s biggest hit, “The Twist,” was actually a cover of the 1958 song by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. Checker’s 1960 version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that September and resurfaced to reach the top spot a second time in January 1962.<\/p>\n