BLABBERMOUTH.NET
POISON drummer
Rikki Rockett has sided with
Neil Young after the legendary singer demanded that his catalog be removed from
Spotify in response to "fake information about vaccines" being "spread" on the platform via
Joe Rogan's podcast,
"The Joe Rogan Experience".
Young delivered an ultimatum, adding, "They can have
Rogan or
Young. Not both."
Spotify announced a few days later that it would pull
Young's music catalog from its platform.
"We regret
Neil's decision to remove his music from
Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon," the company said in a statement. "We want all the world's music and audio content to be available to
Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators."
A short time later,
DISTURBED singer
David Draiman weighed in on
Spotify's move, tagging the company's chief executive
Daniel Ek on
Twitter and writing: "@eldsjal I applaud you and @Spotify for making the RIGHT call, preserving #FreeSpeech and not capitulating to the mob. I may not agree with everything @joerogan or his guests say, but they're entitled to have the forum to say it."
David later clarified his stance, writing: "Let me be clear. I do not support ANY artist blackmailing any entity to follow an agenda THEY believe in, wether it's @Neilyoung one one side of the spectrum or @EricClapton on the other. Music shouldn't be used to sow division. It should be used to bring people together IMHO".
Seemingly in response to
Draiman's comments,
Bach took to his
Twitter to write: "Imagine calling yourself a rocker yet siding with some dude who has a podcast over @Neilyoung You can stick to listening to your podcast and I will stick to listening to
Neil Young". This prompted
Draiman to write: "I still love and will listen to @Neilyoung too brother, the same way I still love and will listen to you. Always continue to respect and admire the both of you brother. The only 'side' I'm on is the side of freedom, and you're free to have your opinion, of course."
Another musician that weighed in is
Rockett, who shared
Bach's tweet and wrote: "
Joe is a very intelligent man, but he is wrong on this one. Gotta side with the artist. We don't get what we deserve from
Spotify anyway!"
When
Sebastian responded, "Hard to say how intelligent a guy is who has a podcast that willingly disseminates deadly misinformation to its own listeners. Maybe if
Meatloaf didn't buy into this conspiracy he would still be with us today. Along with 4,000+ other people that died yesterday from this garbage",
Rockett countered with: "It's not about intelligence, it’s about integrity."
In response to
Draiman's tweet,
Rockett wrote "Science is not opinion. Neither is math", to which
David replied: "Love and respect you too
Rikki, and agree with you. Yet, both science and even math theorems continue to evolve, and sometimes calculations are corrected and can change. What will not change for me is the high opinion I hold for each of you".
Rockett then responded: "This hasn't evolved. 2+2 will still be 4.", after which
Draiman wrote: "On that…we agree lol".
Last July,
Rockett revealed that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus after being vaccinated. The 60-year-old drummer, who is a cancer survivor, later said that that his recovery from COVID-19 "would be way worse" if he hadn't been vaccinated, "especially if it was the delta variant."
Rockett, whose real name is
Richard Allan Ream, was diagnosed with oral cancer nearly seven years ago. Today
Rikki is cancer-free, enjoys playing with his band,
POISON, caring for his two children, and practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
"The Joe Rogan Experience" became a
Spotify exclusive in 2020, when
Rogan signed a multi-year exclusive licensing deal with the streaming giant.
Ek has defended
Rogan in the past, including after an episode that featured the conspiracy theorist
Alex Jones in 2020.
"We want creators to create,"
Ek told
The Financial Times at the time. "It's what they do best. We're not looking to play a role in what they should say."
