Devo co-founder Gerald Casale thinks someone is trying to stop his band from being recognized in the home state where they started it all.
In an August 2025 interview with Gold Derby, Casale, 77, addressed Devo’s three nominations for the prestigious Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, which is held annually in Cleveland. The band, which hails from Akron, OH, has been snubbed for the honor three times after first becoming eligible in 2002.
“I don’t think we ever really cared about [the Rock Hall] as a goal, but it’d be disingenuous to say that to be recognized doesn’t vindicate you somehow, or that you wouldn’t like it somehow,” Casale told the outlet. “But after three snubs, I can only speak for myself. I think we’re done with caring one way or another, because I have to believe those three snubs tell me one thing: that there is someone that actively, on a conspiracy level, doesn’t want Devo in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”
The Devo Bandmates Are Not Surprised By the Snub
Devo formed in 1973 in Akron with Casale, his brother Bob, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, and Alan Myers. Their breakout song came in 1980 with the new wave hit “Whip It.”
The band became eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, 25 years after the release of their 1977 single “Mongoloid.” They were finally nominated in 2018, 2021, and 2022, but were not inducted.
In 2022, Casale admitted it would feel “good” to be recognized. “But on the other hand, if we don’t get in, I wouldn’t be surprised. We’re used to that,” he said, per the Pasadena Star News. “It would be nice to get in now instead of getting in posthumously. … We’re like the Rodney Dangerfield of rock and roll,” he added.
While Casale has stopped caring, his bandmate Mark Mothersbaugh recently told Vulture he has a backup plan should Devo never get selected for the Rock Hall.
“I’m looking to buy a piece of the parking lot, like maybe one parking space adjacent to the museum,” the lead singer told the outlet. “In Ohio, they have very lax laws on where you can bury remains. I was thinking I would transfer all of Devo’s remains to that one parking spot. We’d just dig down underneath it and bury everybody.”
“So, if we weren’t in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, we could be adjacent to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” he added. “That would take some of the pressure off.”
