Little Anthony and the Imperials are one of the nine nominees for the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but Little Anthony has never given much thought to the honor. In a recent interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Little Anthony "couldn't even say who was nominated or how many [artists] would get in."

Q: What was your reaction to being nominated for the Rock and Hall of Fame? I guess you waited a long time.

A: You know what? We never waited. And you probably say, "Oh, he's jivin'" But we never discussed it. We felt that we were fulfilling what our destiny was. There are a lot of people in that Hall of Fame that ain't performing anymore. We reached a pinnacle in our career where we were working at some of the finest places in the world, from Vegas to Lake Tahoe, all the biggest rooms. It was almost to us like, I don't know how they decide who gets to be in the Hall of Fame, but we realize that the only thing we had to do was to be better - better performers. People like Billy Joel, Paul Shaffer, Paul Simon, those were the people who were really lobbying for us. We don't have any power.

With the announcement of the 2009 inductees being so close, it's likely the five artists who will be honored have already been notified. Last year, word of the inductees started to leak when John Mellencamp let the cat out of the bag. Before the 2007 inductees were announced, Sammy Hagar also let it slip early. This doesn't seem to bode well for Little Anthony, because it sounds like he hasn't heard anything yet, but we'll know for sure in January when the official announcement is made by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.