“Life isn’t like that. And there’re quite a few bands I’ve discovered in the past who said, ‘No, I’m not doing that.’
“So we weren’t the only ones who had problems in that respect. But it was nice to be included.”
At the time of the Hall of Fame induction, various publications took to describing the event as “awkward” given the decision of Mark Knopfler, the band’s frontman, not to attend.
Speaking at the time of Knopfler’s absence, Illsley described it as “a personal thing,” not giving much more information.
But in an earlier interview, with Billboard, Illsley revealed: “He just didn’t feel like coming, it’s as simple as that. It just didn’t appeal to him, and I appealed to him on several occasions.”
source: express.co.uk