Former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum recently took a moment to reflect on the highest honor of his career: his 2012 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
While attending the “Joey’s Song” benefit concert in Madison, Wisconsin—an event supporting epilepsy research—Sorum sat down with WCZR Code Zero Radio to discuss his legacy. When the topic turned to the 2012 ceremony in Cleveland, Sorum initially deflected with humor before admitting the accolade was something he never actually planned for.
“I don’t have very many memories of any of that band. No, no, no. I’m just kidding,” Sorum joked. “The induction? Wow. I never really had that in the bucket list. It was sort of unimaginable. So it became something that was kind of a shock. And I think the whole process was interesting. It was very emotional, getting up there and stuff. You have rock and roll dreams when you’re a kid, but that was just beyond any rock and roll dream I ever had. I just wanted to play music and get on stage and travel the world, and I did all that, and then I got that. So it’s pretty cool. I’m happy about it. I’m very proud of it. And now you have to say, ‘Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Matt Sorum‘.”
The conversation also shifted to musical semantics, specifically the definition of “classic rock”. When asked if it was more like a time period or more of a style, Sorum, who has played with a diverse array of rock giants including The Cult and Motörhead, offered a nuanced take on how bands are categorized.
“Classic rock is a style,” Sorum explained. “I think it falls under the moniker of just blues-based rock and roll, in my opinion — anything from Aerosmith to The Stones to Guns N’ Roses. There’s bands like [a band] I was in called The Cult, and we kind of maybe fell under a little bit different of a category, maybe somewhere in the realm of the Bauhaus rock movement of England or whatever. So there’s always slightly different subcategories.”
He recalled his time with the late icon Lemmy Kilmister, noting that the Motörhead frontman rejected the “metal” label entirely.
“When you say ‘heavy metal’… I played in Motörhead and Lemmy didn’t like to be called heavy metal. He was a rock and roll. It’s, like, ‘I’m in a rock and roll band.’ And Lemmy used to say, ‘We are Motörhead and we play rock and roll.’ You know, what is rock and roll? Rolling Stones are rock and roll. There’s rock and then there’s roll. The Stones are rock and roll. Guns N’ Roses were rock and roll. It was the attitude. It was the way we lived our lives. I can’t say I live like that anymore. I still like to rock, but I don’t roll as hard as I used to, because I used to roll nightly.”
Sorum was inducted alongside fellow Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler, and Dizzy Reed. The event was notable for the absence of frontman Axl Rose and guitarist Izzy Stradlin. Despite the drama, the attending members performed a three-song set featuring Myles Kennedy on vocals, with Sorum taking the kit for “Mr. Brownstone.”
