Peter Frampton Reacts To Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction: “I Never Expected This”

74-year-old Peter Frampton has been making waves in the music industry for almost six decades now, and his success has now earned him induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But while his fans may consider it a long time coming, nobody is as surprised by the honor as Frampton himself.

Sunday’s “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night” episode of American Idol saw host Ryan Seacrest and judge Lionel Richie reveal some big names that will be inducted into the prestigious listing. In addition to Frampton, inductees include Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Mary J. Blige, and more. But Frampton’s earnest disbelief stands out as a phenomenon of its own.

Peter Frampton reacts with shock to being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

From the start, Frampton’s album Frampton Comes Alive! proved a success with several hit singles in its tracklist; it has also earned 8× Platinum by the RIAA. “Do You Feel Like We Do,” “I’m in You,” “Baby, I Love Your Way,” and “Show Me the Way” remain celebrated classics from Frampton’s discography.

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But Frampton did not expect that success to lead to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

“It’s something I never expected,” he admitted. “Because I was eligible so long ago, I kind of put it into the back of my mind. It’s like before I got my first Grammy for my instrumental record where I didn’t sing a note. I thought, ‘Oh, I’m over this. I’ll never win a Grammy.'”

Then, he added, “look what happened. I got a Grammy. It’s because I keep working. I’ve never given up. I’ve kept coming back and doing more stuff, and I’ve kept touring. I’ve re-built a following that is now enormous.”

In 2007, his album Fingerprints won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Just the year prior, Frampton had re-signed with A&M Records after unsuccessfully working on splitting ties with the label.

Those who know his work know this is a long time coming

So far, the only one surprised is Frampton. “People always said, ‘You should be in.’ I said, ‘Eh, what is to be,’ y’know?” Frampton explained. “So mixed emotions, because it’s something that I just never expected, whereas other people did for me [laughter]. It’s wonderful.”

Frampton has been eligible for three decades. Musicians qualify 25 years after the release of their first album. Then, a nominating committee, comprised of rock historians, makes their selections, which are then voted on by an international body of 500 other rock experts.

For all his shock, Frampton did, however, put in an earnest effort to get induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, beyond putting out celebrated music. He put QR codes out and spoke about it during his recent tour. Then, he got to announce the thrilling news.

“That was wonderful,” he reminisced. “I got this phone call a couple months ago…and my managers told me I’m being nominated for the Rock….’ I never got out ‘Fame’ — they just went berserk, the audience, every night, and it made me feel like, ‘Well, they think I deserve to be in.’ So that was very, very nice from the word go. It’s quite uncanny we would be touring during the public voting, so every night I could hopefully get a few hundred out of the couple of thousand, three thousand that were in the audience. And it made a difference.”

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