At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Sheryl Crow was about to sing her hit 鈥淓veryday Is a Winding Road鈥� when she invited a rock icon up on stage.
鈥淟adies and gentlemen, I have to bring out one of my heroes 鈥� she said as he appeared to huge cheers, slid on a Gibson electric guitar and made musical sparks immediately curl from the instrument.
Frampton was still jamming away when he got a hug from Crow and then Stevie Nicks. When he went into a blistering solo, there was a wide smile on his face. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how you do it, Peter Frampton!鈥� Crow screamed.
Call that electric performance a dress rehearsal. This year, Frampton finally will be inducted into the rock hall himself, an honor his fans believe is long overdue. The ceremony is Oct. 19 in Cleveland.
He thanks Crow for sharing her spotlight.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I would have been nominated had it not been for Sheryl pushing me out there,鈥� he tells The Associated Press from his home in Nashville. 鈥淚 will always be indebted to her for a wonderful opportunity she gave me.鈥�
Frampton earned his way into the hall in large part on the strength of his 1976 live double album 鈥淔rampton Comes Alive!鈥� 鈥� buoyed by the hit songs 鈥淪how Me the Way鈥� and 鈥矪aby, I Love Your Way鈥� 鈥� that Rolling Stone magazine listed among the 50 greatest live albums of all time.
The guitarist-singer-songwriter has been eligible for the hall since 1998. 鈥淚 thought it just wasn鈥檛 going to happen and I got on with my life,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 never expect awards. Whatever comes my way, I鈥檓 honored and thrilled about.鈥�
The opening of the door for Frampton coincided with in 2023 that led to key legacy acts getting invites, like Foreigner and
They鈥檒l join A Tribe Called Quest, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Matthews Band, MC5, Dionne Warwick, Alexis Korner, and Big Mama Thornton
鈥淚鈥檓 absolutely thrilled for Peter. He鈥檚 given his whole life to this business and he deserves as much as anyone does,鈥� said bassist Rick Wills, who is going into the hall with Foreigner and who played with Frampton for years, including co-writing 鈥淒o You Feel Like I Do?鈥�
In her acceptance speech, Crow revealed that in 1976 when she was 14, she and six teen friends caught Frampton in concert in Memphis, Tennessee. 鈥淚 got to sing along with tens of thousands of strangers to 鈥楧o You Feel Like I Do?鈥欌�� She called it a pivotal moment.
Perhaps more than any musician, Frampton was associated with the talk box, a guitar effect that runs a tube from an amplifier to the mouth, creating a sound both psychedelic and robotic, a technique that has been used by everyone from M枚tley Cr眉e to Pink Floyd.
鈥淚鈥檝e never been about the bravado of being a star. I鈥檝e never thought of myself that way. I鈥檓 a lifelong musician and I just want to be able to play as long as I can,鈥� he says.
鈥淚 speak through my guitar I think more than I do with words. I think more emotion and soul comes from my notes that I play and than anything I could ever say.鈥�
Major awards until recently have eluded Frampton, who had his music played in films like 鈥淛umanji: Welcome to the Jungle,鈥� 鈥淒azed and Confused鈥� and 鈥淭he Banger Sisters.鈥� Redemption came in 2007 when Frampton鈥檚 instrumental album 鈥淔ingerprints鈥� won a Grammy Award, his first.
鈥淭here鈥檚 two things, that I always had a dream about: One was the Grammy, which I got from my instrumental album, which I鈥檓 so proud of because I didn鈥檛 sing a note. It was just about my guitar playing, so that was thrilling. And then, you know, obviously a dream was maybe one day I鈥檒l be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But I never felt like, 鈥榃ell, I deserve it more than anybody else.鈥欌��
He revealed in 2019 that he had a degenerative muscle disease called inclusion body myositis, but plans a tour leading up to his induction 鈥� which hits South Carolina, New York, Connecticut, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Washington, D.C. 鈥� and is working on songs for others as well as another album.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 say when it鈥檚 going to come out because I鈥檓 such a perfectionist. I want every track to be like the best track I鈥檝e ever written,鈥� he says, laughing.
