3-Time Inductee Eric Clapton Takes Aim At Rock Hall: ‘Frat Boys Club’

Eric Clapton is the only musician to be inducted into the Rock & Roll of Fame three times, but that didn’t stop him from lashing out at the institution. Clapton called the Rock Hall a “frat boys club” in a recent interview and was particularly upset J.J. Cale hasn’t been made a member of that club.

Slowhand first entered the Rock Hall as a member of The Yardbirds in 1992 and then was inducted with Cream the following year. Eric Clapton eventually went in as a solo artist in 2000. Yet, he feels the institution has gone down an unfortunate path after its early years.

“I think of it as a frat boys club that happened to lure in… I think the fact that they had Ahmet Ertegun [former Atlantic Records president and chairman of Rock Hall] was the ticket for me. He was doing it for people like Ruth Brown and The Drifters, all those early Atlantic [Records] artists that were being forgotten,” Clapton told The Real Music Observer as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar.

“And then, it just kind of started to snowball,” Clapton continued. “And I was very suspicious because, obviously, the [Rolling Stone] magazine was involved. My dear friend Robbie [Robertson] was also part of the ticket. I thought, ‘Well, he was the one that persuaded me to do it.'”

The conversation started when the interviewer asked whether EC would do the honors if J.J. Cale was to be inducted. Clapton circled back to his old friend’s exclusion later in the chat. “But the fact that someone like J.J. has never even been suggested is proof of what that thing is or proof of what it isn’t. It’s not like he’ll ever come up. It’s not their thing. I don’t know what their thing is. But he’s too anonymous for those guys,” Clapton continued.

Eric Clapton was reminded Bad Company have also yet to be inducted and that frontman Paul Rodgers wouldn’t accept if the invitation was given. “He’s a rebel. It’s not a place for rebels. It’s establishment stuff,” Clapton said of Rodgers and Bad Company.

Watch the complete interview below:

In 2006, Eric Clapton recruited fellow guitar great Derek Trucks to join his band for a world tour. High-quality fan-shot footage of EC’s November 15, 2006 show in Osaka, Japan recently surfaced. Watch below:

Eric Clapton begins a tour of North and South America on September 24 in Curitiba, Brazil. Clapton brings the run to Southern California in October ahead of his appearance at an all-star Robbie Roberston tribute concert at The Forum on October 17.