Flashback: Bob Seger ‘Turns The Page’ at the Hall of Fame in 2004
Bob Seger largely disappeared from public life following the conclusion of his 1996 tour in support of It’s A Mystery. He’d been working nearly non-stop for thirty years, and with few financial concerns (and very young children at home), he decided it was time to take a well-deserved break. Until his 2006 comeback album Face The Promise and its subsequent tour, fans tended to only see him in the stands at Detroit Pistons games.
Bob Seger and More of Last Year’s Best Tours
The lone exception was Seger’s 2004 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He reunited the Silver Bullet Band for the occasion and treated the black tie crowd at New York’s Waldorf Astoria ballroom to “Old Time Rock and Roll” and “Turn the Page.” (Watch video of the latter performance above.)
Kid Rock delivered Seger’s induction speech. “Until tonight, the most underrated singer/songwriter and live performer of our time has been Bob Seger,” he said. “He is the beautiful loser who has sold fifty million records. Bob Seger has paid more dues than all the artists in the current Billboard Top 40 combined. . . He set the bar for all singers and songwriters who came from the Midwest. Bob Seger is the voice of the working man and living proof of the American dream.”
Bob Seger Admits His “Career’s Winding Down”
As always, Seger was extremely humble that night, opting to devote his entire speech to thanking other people. “I want to thank all the fans who pushed real hard on the Internet and on rock radio to get me in here for all these years,” he said. “Thank you so much. I know you never stopped.”
Two years later, Seger finally re-emerged for a triumphant tour and new LP. He returned to the road in 2011 for another long run of dates, but his long-promised next album remains under lock and key.