Neil Young Took a Principled Stand. Some Right-Wingers Had Never Seen One Before
If you believed right-wing Twitter over the past week, no one has ever heard of Neil Young, no one currently listens to Neil Young, and Neil Young is a deluded old fool who somehow believed that Spotify would choose his ancient, irrelevant music over the world’s biggest podcaster, Joe Rogan. Also, Kid Rock is a far greater talent.
But when Young cited what experts have described as misinformation regarding the Covid-19 vaccines and declared that Spotify could have either have him or Rogan, he was simply taking a principled stand — and an alarming number of commentators seemed completely oblivious to that simple fact. As it happens, Joni Mitchell (and subsequently, Nils Lofgren, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and others) joined him, and Spotify ended up declaring that they would add warnings before controversial Rogan episodes.
The new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now takes on the Young vs. Rogan controversy, with Andy Greene joining host Brian Hiatt. To hear the whole episode, press play above, or listen on Apple Podcasts or, well, Spotify. The conversation touches on the ramifications of the battle, Young’s history of bold stances, and much more.
Also in this episode, Rob Sheffield and Brittany Spanos discuss whether CDs really deserve to come back, and touch on the highs and lows of the compact disc era.
Download and subscribe to our weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts), and check out three years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth, career-spanning interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Questlove, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, Gary Clark Jr., and many others — plus dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters. Tune in every Friday at 1 p.m. ET to hear Rolling Stone Music Now broadcast on SiriusXM’s Volume, channel 106.
