Pleasure Division and New Order drummer Stephen Morris admits he doesn’t “perceive the purpose” of the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame, including that the Corridor’s resolution to enshrine each his teams in a combo induction is “a little bit of a cheat.”
“I don’t get awards,” Morris remarked throughout a latest dialog with Rolling Stone. “I don’t perceive the purpose of them. I’ve tried. I’ve actually, actually, imagine me, tried. Unsuccessfully, I’ve tried giving awards. I’ve tried receiving awards. I’ve simply gone and watched different folks getting awards, and I’ve simply come away feeling a bit like Peggy Lee. ‘Is that every one there’s? What’s it about?’”
“I don’t get it,” the drummer continued. “And the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame particularly.”
Morris went on to confess he was initially “suckered” the primary time Pleasure Division was nominated for induction again in 2023.
READ MORE: Why Pleasure Division/New Order Ought to Be within the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame
“Oh, it’s nice,” he recalled pondering. “It’s the followers who had been voting for this, and that’s nice. And I used to be there voting for myself making an attempt … After which we didn’t get in. After which I noticed that I used to be being duped. It wasn’t fully the followers. That’s what I may perceive. The individuals who got here final received in, and the individuals who got here prime simply had been like, ‘Oh, so long, alligator.’ Which I felt was a bit unfair to the individuals who went to the difficulty of voting.”
Morris expressed appreciation that followers and Rock Corridor voters felt compelled to honor the legacies of Pleasure Division and New Order. In the end, it appears, such honors are merely not the drummer’s cup of tea.
“It’s actually good that individuals acknowledge that you just may need executed one thing good,” Morris admitted. “I simply personally can not see the purpose of an award ceremony or receiving in any method, form or kind. I’m sorry. I’m not ungrateful. I simply don’t get it.”
Pleasure Division’s Stephen Morris Struggling From a ‘Fairly Severe’ Sickness
Whereas Morris indicated it’s unlikely he’ll attend his bands’ Corridor of Fame induction this 12 months, the choice is extra about well being than any type of protest.
“I’ve received a little bit of a well being drawback on the minute, which precludes leaving the nation for any size of time,” Morris defined. “We did strive. We went to an exhibition, the Ian Curtis lyrics exhibition in New York just a few months in the past and thought, ‘We’ll see how this goes. If this goes all proper, it is perhaps value pondering…’ And that was solely two days, and it simply resulted in catastrophe. So perhaps not, perhaps, however I can’t actually say issues will get higher, as a result of they received’t.”
READ MORE: Two Members of New Order Step Away ‘For the Forseable Future’
Whereas the drummer declined to elaborate on his well being woes, he did observe that the sickness he’s coping with is “fairly severe.” “It’s not one thing that somebody’s going to give you a remedy for,” he conceded.
For now, Morris is targeted on Everlasting (Dwell), a sprawling 14-disc field set capturing 16 traditional Pleasure Division live shows, together with two which have by no means beforehand been launched. The gathering arrives Sept. 25.
Pleasure Division and New Order Albums Ranked
Inseparable however distinctive, and baptized by tragedy, the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame bands’ affect has solely grown over the many years.
Gallery Credit score: Michael Gallucci



