Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagicPearl Jam will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next year, but the band's ex-drummer David Abbruzzese will not be inducted along with them. Abbruzzese had previously commented on the snub, saying that his former band mates "can't justify ignoring my contributions," and now he's calling his exclusion an "absolute travesty."
"The qualifications required for me to have been inducted with my former band mates certainly have been met," he writes in a Facebook post. "I challenge anyone to justify why I am not worthy of a place in the history of Pearl Jam. The official reason given from the RRHOF makes it bulls***. It make my years of hard work appear to be worthless towards the success born of the formative years of Pearl Jam. This is simply not the case."
Abbruzzese played drums on Pearl Jam's 1993 sophomore album Vs. and its follow-up, Vitalogy. He was fired from the band in 1994.
"For anyone to take a stand for denying my right to be recognized, I deserve to hear how you are possibly justifying such an absolute travesty," he writes.
As for who will be inducted into the Rock Hall with Pearl Jam, that includes current members Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Matt Cameron, Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, plus original drummer Dave Krusen. The 2017 induction ceremony will be held April 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.