We Now Know The Reason Why AC/DC Asked Steven Tyler To Induct Them

When AC/DC was about to be inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2003, they had no better person in mind that Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler to do the job.

In a 2003 interview with Billboard, Malcolm Young said it was Steven Tyler that came to mind due to him being good to the band back in the day. “When we first came to the States… we were doing sort of club dates and things like that. [Aerosmith] heard we were in the country and they got us put on as a support act for ’em. And when [Tyler] would do interviews he would talk about us, too. He got us onto The Midnight Special,” he said.

He added: “What really sealed it was when we were on a gig with Foreigner, who had a big hit record at the time, and it was a big stadium. Aerosmith was on it, too. Foreigner didn’t want us on there for one reason or another, and it was Steven Tyler who said, ‘Well, if you’re gonna drop them, we’re not playing either.’ I thought that was brilliant. So when we look back we thought he was the man who helped the band when we first came to the States, and we’re grateful for that.”

However, Young didn’t really treat the induction with much gusto due to the questionable decisions the organization has made throughout the years. “I know we came up for it a few times before and we were rejected, too,” he said. “So it’s a bit of a sweet thing in a way, but to us it’s not an honor. We just had to go through with it, in a way; I think it might have been better if we were ignored again! And there’s the other side of it, too; there’s not a lot of rock ‘n’ roll in that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is there? Not true rock ‘n’ roll.”