Bob Dylan has accepted the Nobel, even though he did not come to collect it. Throughout musical history there are other great names that have rejected awards. After half a long time waiting for him to speak after being awarded the award, one of the most prestigious in the world, he finally said yes, it was an honor. But he has not come to collect the award, due to an incompatibility of the agenda.
David Bowie, Lennon, George Harrison, Sinéad O'Connor, Keith Richards, are some of the musicians who made the decision, at the time, not to accept the award that had been awarded to them.
George Harrison
El Beatle too rejected another attempt at decoration at the hands of the Queen of England. The reason? Quirky, as always, Harrison said at the time that he was turning it down because he would not accept an award of a lower category than the one that had been awarded to his partner Paul McCartney.
Let us remember that in 1997 Paul McCartney was made a Knight of this Order.
Despite being the Order of the British Empire one of the most important awards in the country, George Harrison was not stimulated by anything.
A report justifying the award read: 'Harrison was member of a band that many people consider to be the best product to come out of Britain, and possibly the best in the world, The Beatles ».
David Bowie
Passed in 2000, when Queen Elizabeth II of England offered David Bowie to join the Order of Chivalry of the British Empire. The musician declined the invitation.
In an interview in The Sun newspaper, Bowie stated that I would never have the intention of accepting "such an award." “I have not spent my life working for this. I don't know what that award is for ”.
In 2003, three years after the first rejection, the British crown would try again to get Bowie to accept the award. The result was the same.
David Bowie appeared in a British Government Secret List It featured 300 celebrities who have turned down various honors offered over the past half century.
Among these names that have not accepted decorations are the writers Graham Green, John Le Carré and Aldous Huxley; the painter Francis Bacon or the legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, who refused a CBE but ended up being made a Knight of the British Empire.
About the Mick Jagger award
After announcing that the leader of the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger was to be made a Knight of the British Empire, David Bowie was respectful and simply said: “It is not my place to make a judgment on Jagger, it is his decision. But those things don't go with me.
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor is the only singer in history to have turned down a Grammy award. She even had 4 nominations to these well-known awards. He took the highest award to best alternative music album, but rejected everything.
In a letter that O'Connor wrote to the Academy that awards the Grammys every year, he alleged that the reason for his rejection was that he did not agree with the Academy, because “it only reflected values materialists".
John Lennon
It was 1965 and the Beatles were going to Buckingham Palace to receive from the hands of the Queen the medal of Knights of the Order of the British Empire, for his important contribution to British music.
In 1969, just 4 years later, Lennon thought better of it and returned his medal accompanied by a letter in which he explained that he was forced to reject the award, as protest measure for UK support for the Vietnam War.
The text of the letter said: Your Majesty. I return this MBE to you in protest against the British intervention in Nigeria-Biafra, against our support for America in Vietnam and against 'Cold Turkey' which has fallen on the sales charts. John Lennon of Bag ». "Cold Turkey" was the album that had just been released.
Ska-P
As an 'irony of life«. This is how the members of the Spanish band Ska-P qualified their nomination for the Latin Grammy Awards, in the category of Best Rock Album.
The rejection was made through several messages on Twitter. At first, after knowing their Grammy nomination, they literally wrote on this social network: “They have nominated us for the (Latin) Grammy hehe. Ironies of life, fuck you! Give it to (Barack) Obama, put it next to the Nobel Peace Prize".
At a later point, the band would say on their Twitter that they would not want to be compared to Alejandro Sanz. It would be through a third tweet when they rectified and said that they wanted to refer to Miguel Bosé.
By means of a final rectification comment, they wrote: “As for the Grammy nomination, as Groucho Marx said, I would never belong to a club where they give awards to guys like Alejandro Sanz. Come on, it was a mistake, we actually wanted to write Miguel Bosé ”.
Keith Richards
One of the mythical guitarists in rock history, Keith Richards, rejected the title of Sir from the hands of the Queen isabel II. And not only that. At the time he also took the opportunity to criticize at ease with his Rolling Stones teammate, Mick Jagger, who did accept the title.
Richards claimed that Jagger, now called Sir Mick, committed 'blind stupidity' in tolerating such high distinction. Richards took the award accepted by Jagger so badly that he was close to abandoning the current world tour that the legendary band was doing to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their first concert, held in 1962 at the legendary Marquee Club in London.
In the words of Keith Richards: 'I got mad, I was furious, I went crazy and I threatened to leave the tour. But Mick has screwed up so many times ... What does one more shit matter? '
To reconcile and try to get the waters back to their course, the Rolling drummer, Charlie Watts tRató to be conciliatory and declared himself 'happy' because Jagger 'is really enjoying it' as a new knight of the British Empire, while requesting the same title for Keith Richards.
Wats's comments have become famous, stating: 'Wow!' Some of the people who have those medals, or whatever they are called, are horrible and Mick really deserves it. If they gave it to Paul McCartney, Mick must have one. But if Mick has one, Keith should be offered another. '.
For his part, Mick Jagger himself would downplay the matter stating that no one calls him Sir Mick. He said that this treatment is only given to him by some people through letters that they write to him. But he takes it as a little tease.