During the recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott has expressed his feelings about being inducted into Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. 

He has revealed an influential British rock band which many Americans probably didn’t know anything about them.

Interviewer asked “Do you feel weird about being in before Mott the Hoople, T. Rex and a lot of your heroes?” and Joe responded:

“You know what? It’s a funny thing. It is a very American institution. The influence that British music has had on American artists over time, especially in the Sixties and Seventies with bands like the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Black Sabbath, was massive. But there are bands that weren’t as popular as them and didn’t necessarily take off the States, but were extremely influential on people.

I’m ecstatic that Roxy Music are in. Many Americans probably didn’t know much about Roxy Music until Avalon [in 1982], but the truth is in 1972 when they put out “Virginia Plain,” between them and David Bowie they instantly, overnight changed the face of pop music.

It was a huge thing that influenced everything from Siouxsie and the Banshees to Duran Duran to Spandau Ballet, Human League … there’s a million artists that count Roxy Music as a major influence. For the more brick-layer rock, if you like, there’s Queen and Slade and artists like T. Rex and Mott the Hoople.

It is a little sad that they don’t get the recognition. I imagine that’s because most people on the committee are American East Coast and they go, “Well, they didn’t really make any impact.” Well, yes they did. Not on your shores, but they did in the U.K. and that shouldn’t be ignored.

It’s almost like there should be a sub-ceremony for the British Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in London that can acknowledge bands that did something over here and didn’t necessarily make a big impact in America. Slade in 1973, 1974 was playing like the Beatles did 10 years previous, but it never happened in America. That’s a big cultural thing for people like me that didn’t step out of the U.K. until I was 21.”

Click here to entire interview. You can listen to Roxy Music’s Virginia Plain below.