# Why can't Lynyrd Skynyrd get in the R&R Hall of Fame? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803 "2005-03-23T00:10:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/41 "2005-03-23T19:16:10Z")
Have you ever been to the RRHOF? BORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING. I don’t know why anybody would want to be there. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/42 "2005-03-23T20:01:21Z")
> [@sulamith](#): > > I know they have the whole Southern Good Ol’ Boy thing working against them, and they were/are rednecks to the bone… You say that like it’s a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/43 "2005-03-23T21:40:45Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > “Simple Man” was covered by Shinedown last summer, it was on the radio in heavy rotation. Seems like LS has had at least some influence all the way up to the present. Shinedown released that because their lead singer is married to Melody Van Zant, Ronnie’s daughter. I’ve given my opinion on this several times. Skynyrd is a hell of a lot more qualified than a lot of people already in, but they won’t get in. I’ve accepted that. At this point, Lynyrd Skynyrd is the Bruce Sutter or Goose Gossage of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/44 "2005-03-24T00:26:15Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I hate Lynyrd Skynyrd and I love Warren Zevon, but I’d put LS in the Hall of Fame and probably not Zevon. > > Warren Zevon was great, but in terms of popularity and influence he isn’t in the Top 1000 of rock and roll acts, and his songs were not examples of instrumental genius a la Steve Vai or even Van Halen. I think you have to base your decisions on more than just “I personally think this guy rocks.” Warren Zevon was not that popular publically, but he was a ‘musician’s musician’ and was immensely influential on other musicians. He took the emerging mellow California singer-songwriter movement and kicked it in the ass. He helped move the Eagles from their early country-rock into the harder edged music on ‘Hotel California’ and “The Long Run” (the Eagles admired him, and members regularly appeared on his albums). I can’t count the number of interviews and books I’ve read in which various artists expressed their admiration for and the influence of Zevon. Look at the number of major musicians who played on his albums - they didn’t do it for the money, since he rarely cracked a couple of hundred thousand in album sales. They did it because they wanted to play with Warren Zevon. A sign of his influence would be that he got his own tribute at the Grammy’s the year he died. For a guy who never had a #1 hit, that’s impressive. He was also influential in other arts. Dave Letterman has said that Zevon was influential in developing his sarcastic humor. Carl Hiassen was influenced by Zevon. “Things to do in Denver When You’re Dead” became a movie title, and one of Zevon’s songs was the title song for the TV Show ‘Action’. And while Zevon himself may not have had a whole lot of commercial success, Linda Ronstadt had huge hits with “Carmelita” and “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803.md?page=2)