In a new Instagram post, renowned studio musician Carol Kaye announced that she has declined induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “People have been asking: NO I won’t be there,” the 90-year-old Kaye wrote. “I am declining the RRHOF awards show. Turning it down because it wasn’t something that reflects the work that Studio Musicians do and did in the golden era of the 1960s Recording Hits.” Kaye also has long objected to the use of the “Wrecking Crew” nickname for her group of studio musicians, which was coined by drummer Hal Blaine.
“I was never a ‘wrecker’ at all,” she writes. “That’s a terrible insulting name.” In addition to Kaye’s Rock Hall induction, her musical legacy also came up in the wake of the death of Brian Wilson, with Kaye playing on Pet Sounds and many other Beach Boys’ classics, including “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations” and “Heroes and Villains.” Kaye also was part of the studio teams assembled by Motown, Phil Spector, and Quincy Jones, playing on songs by Frank Sinatra, Sonny & Cher, Simon & Garfunkel, the Monkees, Glen Campbell, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Joe Cocker, and Ray Charles. (Variety)
