Small Faces - Kenney Jones Thought Hall Of Fame Bosses Had 'Forgotten' Small Faces

The 1960s group received its honour during a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday (14Apr12), and Jones confesses he had almost given up hope of landing the recognition.

The rocker was convinced their lack of touring in the U.S. because of bandmate Ian MCLagan's minor drugs conviction had destroyed their dreams of ever receiving the accolade, and he's delighted they've finally been given the honour.

He tells Britain's Sunday Express, "It's a great honour. It's not as well-known in this country (England), but in America it's like a music biz knighthood. It used to bug me that we didn't get in earlier, I thought they'd forgotten about us. Every year I'd see the list of nominees and wonder: 'What's going on? Where are we?'

"I assumed we'd shot ourselves in the foot by never going over there, but Mac couldn't get a work permit because of a minor drugs conviction. Trivial by today's standards, but it left us stuck at home.

"It hit us hard, because there was a feeling we could have done really well in the States, that we would have slotted right in, our sound was so attuned to America's own music. There was no YouTube or internet, of course, so if you didn't go over there and play you might as well not have existed."