Chubby Checker is set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after 39 years of eligibility this November — but he won’t be attending the ceremony.

The musician, 83, born Ernest Evans revealed at a recent concert that he’s choosing not to attend the Los Angeles ceremony this fall, as he’d rather play for his fans.

“The Twist” singer, who does not have any official future concerts listed online, says he also wants to prove to any naysayers that he can still groove.

During a live interview, the man who made ‘The Twist’ dance a worldwide craze in the ’60s, said he made sure his manager booked him a gig that would prevent him from attending the induction ceremony. “I told my manager, ‘Make sure when we go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the induction, that I’m doing what I love doing the most: Being in front of an audience. A live audience, not a television audience,’” Evans said.

When the Rock Hall officially invited Evans to the induction, he said he told them, “We’re not coming. We have a gig.” “Well, forget about your gig,” he recalls them responding. “We never forget about gigs,” he said. Evans said he wants to prove that even at his ripe age, he is “alive and well and the audience is wonderful, and my dream is being fulfilled, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is happening all at the same time.”