The Black Keys Regret Inducting Steve Miller into Rock Hall of Fame

Last week, The Black Keys gave a speech inducting Steve Miller into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Miller then gave an acceptance speech that was critical of the Rock Hall, encouraging the institution to be "more inclusive of women" and "to respect the artists they say they’re honoring, which they don't."

After the ceremony, he also called the Rock Hall "a bunch of jackasses and jerks and fucking gangsters and crooks." Now, The Black Keys have spoken to Rolling Stone about Miller's criticisms, telling Rolling Stone they regret inducting him.

"He said, 'The whole process was unpleasant,'" The Black Keys frontman told Rolling Stone. "And for Pat and I, the most unpleasant part was being around him."

The Black Keys frontman continued:
“We got a really uncomfortable feeling when we first met Steve. He had no idea who we were. No idea. The first thing he told us was, "I can't wait to get out of here." He knew that we signed up to do this speech for him. And he made no effort to even [laughs uncomfortably] — he didn't even figure out who we were. I don't live in New York City. This is like three days out of my life flying from Nashville and leaving my kids at home.”

Asked if they regret accepting the invitation to induct Miller, Dan Auerbach said:
“Uh, yeah. Pat and I both regret it. [Long pause.] It's unfortunate. Of course there are problems in the music industry. Of course. But we were there, unpaid, on our own free will, to come celebrate his achievements and spread the joy of rock & roll. To inspire kids to pick up guitars. To play music. And it felt like we were doing the opposite.”

He added:
“Listen, I just want people to know that he's allowed to say whatever he wants, of course. But he does not speak for me. He does not speak for Pat. And some of the things he said is just [pauses, sighs] I don't know. I really don't know. It's weird. He called the whole thing "a boys' club." The Steve Miller band has had 35 members and no women. It was just very disappointing. And I'm not looking for anything, really. I just wanted people to just know how Pat and I felt. That's all.”

In conclusion, Auerbach said:
"There's a time and a place to stand up and be angry. But when people are honoring you for how great you are, that's not the fucking time or place. It was the only story everyone talked about. It overshadowed Kendrick [Lamar]'s message of positivity and it's totally unfortunate. And I hated being a part of that. I hated the feeling in my gut of being connected to that negativity."

Check out Miller's acceptance speech below.