Neil Young, Kid Rock face off in COVID-19 culture war
It was a banner week for the culture war in rock circles, with Neil Young and Kid Rock rallying their bases on opposite sides of the spectrum.
Kid Rock, the right-leaning rap-rocker from Michigan, released “We the People,” a garish arena-rock anthem that attacks Dr. Anthony Fauci, COVID-19 restrictions, mainstream media and social media, leading to a chorus of “Let’s Go, Brandon!” — code for a wellknown anti-Joe Biden meme.
“Wear your mask. Take your pills. Now a whole generation’s mentally ill,” 52year-old Kid shouts, while also pointing out that Biden attacked Donald Trump early on for wanting to stop travel from China at the start of the pandemic.
On the other end is the 76year-old Young, who delivered strident protest anthems against Richard Nixon and George W. Bush during their presidencies while also, at one point, supporting Ronald Reagan.
Young lashed out this week at Joe Rogan for spreading what Young deems to be vaccine “misinformation” by hosting such skeptics as Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
Young asked that his music be removed from Spotify if the streaming platform continues to host its $100 million man.
“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” Young declared in an open letter written to his management Monday. “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.
“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” Young added. “Please acton this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule.”
The letter has been deleted, but not before both sides ran with it.
A CNN opinion column blared, “It’s Neil Young’s free world, not Joe Rogan’s” and declared “[Rogan] should be given room to discuss what he wants, even if that offends people who disagree with him politically. But the company should draw the line at dangerous life-threatening conspiracy theories and the kind of misinformation that could result in unnecessary illness and death.
“That’s where Neil Young is drawing the line. Other musicians and podcasters who appear on Spotify should follow suit and use their platforms to tell the company that it does have obligations to the listening public.”
Virtually all of Young’s music had been removed from Spotify by Thursday, The New York Times reported.
On Twitter, Rogan supporters evoked the Lynyrd Skynyrd line “a Southern man don’t need him around” and either disavowed their Young fandom or asked who he was. Recent guest clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson tweeted, “I enjoyed listening to you Neil @neilyoung you’ll be missed.”
Evolutionary microbiologist Bret Weinstein, another Rogan guest, tweeted, “In light of Neil Young’s ultimatum to Spotify, ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ stands to become the most ironic title in the history of music.”
On Tuesday, Young’s wife, Daryl Hannah, tweeted out a story from The Wrap that Spotify had “now” deleted 42 episodes of Rogan’s show. While some of her followers reacted as though it was current, that story was from April 2021. Some pushed back, one noting, “That’s nothing to be proud of.”
“The Daily Show” chose to point to the absurd economy of Spotify, tweeting, “Neil Young is gonna regret this when his monthly Spotify checks for $1.37 stop rolling in.”
As for Kid Rock, “We the People” hasn’t been well-received by the rock press, but that’s nothing new for the outspoken rocker, who was a guest at Trump’s White House. Rolling Stone headlined its story, “Kid Rock Calls for ‘Love and Unity’ While Asking Us to ‘Suck on Deez Nuts’ in New Song. We’ll Pass.”
Consequence of Sound ripped into Kid Rock for “a command of rhymes what would have Shakespeare’s jaw on the floor” and mocked him for things like the “pills” line, saying, “perhaps he got it confused with horse paste,” a reference to ivermectin, which happens to be one of the drugs that Rogan took when he battled COVID-19.
This all comes just a few days after the media ran stories questioning the vaccine and mask stances of Meat Loaf in the wake of his death at 74. His cause of death remains unknown.
Nonetheless, Howard Stern, the king of Sirius, just weighed in, urging Meat Loaf’s family to take action.
He said on his radio show, “I wish the family would come forward and say, ‘Ya know, when Meat Loaf was laying there in the hospital and he couldn’t breathe, he said, ‘I made a mistake. I should have taken the vaccine.’ Like all these anti-vaxxers, they all say, ‘I made a mistake.’ ”
A week prior, Stern addressed anti-vaxxers, saying, “It’s time for you to get it. Now, if you don’t get it, in my America, all hospitals would be closed to you. You’re going to go home and die. That is what you should get. Absolutely.”
For the most part, fellow artists have been trying to steer clear of these flare-ups. However, we did get a few words from Young’s old band partner David Crosby, despite them not being on speaking terms.
“Right on Neil,” he tweeted.