"On Friday, I couldn't really have cared less, but on Saturday the whole world looked different," Hayward, who had for years dismissed the Rock Hall and the Moodys notable exclusion from it, tells Billboard with a laugh. "My reaction was, 'Wow!' It's outstanding, really."
Hayward's comments over the years had been based on the fact that the Rock Hall was an American organization that made little impact in Europe, where he spends most of his time. With the group headed in next year as a first-ballot inductee -- the ceremony is April 14 in Cleveland -- Hayward notes that "at times like this, I wish I was American. I could really appreciate the scale of it, I suppose. But I am extremely grateful to them for creating that sort of temple to all that music has brought me. There's nowhere else in the world that's like that, and I'm very grateful to them for creating that place. And now, after all these years, I'm incredibly grateful to them for including us and it's an absolute privilege to be celebrated in the same building, on the same street, in the same town, even, as Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers."