Chubby Checker reveals he’s skipping his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in LA

A major twist.

Rock and Roll legend Chubby Checker is skipping his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony to prove he’s “still alive” after waiting over three decades to join the exclusive music club.

Checker, 83, revealed at a recent show that he will not attend the honors in Los Angeles on Nov. 8 because he will be rocking out on stage at a different gig.

The rock icon constructed the scheduling conflict as a way to skip the show.

“When I told my manager, I said ‘make sure when we go to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the induction, that I will be doing what I love doing the most – being in front of an audience, a live audience, not a television audience,” the music icon told a crowd of fans, according to video posted to social media on July 29.

Checker, best known for the 1960 chart-topping hit “The Twist,” has been eligible for the RRHOF since its inaugural class in 1985.

The Grammy Award winner had yet to be nominated until this year.

Anticipating his selection, Checker said his manager booked him a gig for Nov. 8, before the Hall of Fame reached out to tell him the big news.

On April 27, Checker was among 13 musicians selected as part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025.

Checker joins an impressive class of “more traditional” Rock & Roll performers, including Bad Company, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden and The White Stripes.

“The Twist Again” singer recalled the phone call with Hall of Fame staff when his team turned down the offer to fly out to the ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

“We’re not coming, we have a gig,” Checker said.

Checker, born Ernest Evans, shared the importance of missing the ceremony to show he was still healthy and not a frail old man.

“Getting back to being an ‘older person,’” Checker explained to the crowd. “Chubby goes to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and they say ‘he’s an old guy, he’s probably retired, he’s not doing anything, maybe he has crutches, he’s coming to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to get his little award and go back home,’” the musician mocked.

The singer wasn’t fond of appearing in front of a digital audience, instead opting for a real-life crowd.

“Let’s be doing a show like I’m doing today to show that I’m alive and well,” Checker said. “And the audience is wonderful and my dream is still being fulfilled and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is happening all at the same time.”

The 2025 ceremony will be held at the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 8

No scheduled events for Checker are publicly listed online for Nov. 8

“The Twist” held claim as the “Hottest Single” of all time, after Billboard made the list in 2008.

Checker held onto that title for over a decade until the magazine republished the list in 2021 and declared The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” as the new Hot 100 Song of all time.