Howard Stern did what he does better than anybody at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction for Bon Jovi, the rock outfit led by the titular Jon Bon Jovi. Stern ridiculed. It wasn’t that Stern was unhappy about Bon Jovi’s being put in the Hall; the King of All Media was just pissed that it took so long.
Stern had both nice and scandalous things to say, sometimes in the same breath. But he really lit into Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone. Stern claimed Wenner was being obtuse and slow in recognizing the Jersey boys’s rock credentials. Here’s Stern, in a monologue that was shown on HBO on Saturday night after being recorded at the ceremony last month:
Jann Wenner finally let Bon Jovi into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Way to go Jan, Janny, John, Jann, whatever the (expletice) your name is. Anyway, Jann, you did it. You finally gave this fantastic band their due. Now for those of you who don’t know, Jann is the man in charge, but I’m not sure why. This guy doesn’t play a musical instrument, he doesn’t have a band*, but he did start a great magazine, Rolling Stone. Yeah. And now it’s the size of a pamphlet — what a business plan; way to go. I read it in about 30 seconds backstage. Now, Jann required years of pondering to decide if this glorious band that sold over 130 million albums could be inducted. What a tough decision! Gee, I don’t know if I should let Bon Jovi in? 130 million albums, that’s not such a big deal.
Don’t know what Wenner did to Stern, but it obviously wasn’t good. Plus Stern likes Jon Bon Jovi so much he’ll happily plug the rocker’s white wine biz — and even his father’s pasta sauce when given a chance. The Stern Bon Jovi induction video is below. According to Howard, not even Hamlet dithered as much as Wenner.
* Stern doesn’t play an instrument in a band either, to be fair, but it hasn’t stopped him (like Wenner) from promoting music acts!
