PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Chubby Checker, who introduced the world to The Twist, has demanded to be recognised as one of the most important figures in rock and roll.
The singer took out a full-page advert in rock magazine Billboard to say he deserves to be honoured with a statue in the courtyard of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
If he doesn't get one, he will refuse induction into the prestigious Hall - although he has not yet been nominated.
"I want my flowers while I'm alive. I can't smell them when I'm dead," he said in the advert. "I will not have the music business ignore my position in the industry."
The Twist was the only single to top the US chart on two separate occasions after he first played it on American TV in 1960. It hit the charts three years before The Beatles, but six years after Bill Haley, who is widely credited as the first rock and roll star.
Those already inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, include Haley, The Beatles and Elvis Presley - but also lesser-known names like Clyde McPhatter and Solomon Burke.
The Hall of Fame's president has said he would not give Checker a statue because he has not been inducted - and even if he was, a statue would give Checker a higher status than other stars.
"The idea that we could elevate one individual with a statue out front would suggest I would have to do likewise for all the rest of the people in the pantheon," Terry Stewart said.
"It's just not a reasonable request."
Checker, real name Ernest Evans, is 60 on Wednesday.
"Rock and roll did not have a dance until Chubby Checker went on American Bandstand and did The Twist," he said.
The Sex Pistols have been nominated for the Hall of Fame
He has sold more than 250 million records worldwide and spends 300 days a year touring, according to his website.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was opened in 1983 to honour those who have had "a significant impact on the evolution, development and perpetuation of rock and roll".
The Sex Pistols, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Talking Heads, Gram Parsons and Gene Pitney are among the nominations, announced last month, for acts to be inducted in 2002.
Inductees in 2001 included Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Ritchie Valens and Steely Dan. There are now a number of other Halls of Fame including those for Latin and country music.
