Defense of musicians purely because of their talent

We all know that people who are famous to a certain degree get more of a voice when it comes to any kind of political opinion, but what actually makes me the most sad, is the fact that there is a certain portion of music fans (in this case "metalheads")who will defend anything that any person says, no matter how positively stupid and irrational it is, purely because they happen to be talented at creating music that they like.

This probably says more about YouTube than it says about most people, but I watched a video of the Young Turks mocking Dave Mustaine (regardless of your political affiliation, you can't deny that what he said about school shootings is retarded and the fact that he went on Alex Jones´ show only speaks to that view) and people were actually defending him - this is not specifically about that, but it baffles me that grown men would rather attack people making rational points, just because they happen to be criticizing a person that happens to have a talent that they enjoy - this is grade school logic.

I think you summed it up in the last few words, grade school logic!

I don't know what Mustaine said about school shootings, but if he said it on the Alex Jones show then I'm sure it was probably something stupid. But as I've said before, as long as Mustaine stays angry so it inspires him to keep doing cool speed metal records, then I'm fine with it. When he's angry, he makes Endgame or Rust in Peace. When he's happy, he makes middle of the road crap like Cryptic Writings.

I try not to let a musician/artist's opinions/beliefs interfere with my enjoyment of their work. Of course, if one of my favorite singers was suddenly outed as a white supremacist, baby-eating serial killer, then I probably wouldn't buy any more of their albums. But if they're just spouting off stupid sh*t on Twitter, then I'm like "whatever."

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I try not to let a musician/artist's opinions/beliefs interfere with my enjoyment of their work. Of course, if one of my favorite singers was suddenly outed as a white supremacist, baby-eating serial killer, then I probably wouldn't buy any more of their albums.  But if they're just spouting off stupid sh*t on Twitter, then I'm like "whatever."

Exactly.

Yeah, Keith summed it up better than I could.

Are you drunk, bro?

Pretty much the only musician whose political personality turns me off from their music is Ted Nugent. I have zero interest in him because of the stuff he says. That said, I won't turn Cat Scratch Fever off from the radio or anything, but I've never been inclined to buy his records. Oddly, the only song I really like of his is that song "Kiss my Ass", which is overtly and specifically politically. But damn it's catchy.

But then other guys like Mustaine, yes he has said outright ridiculous things, but I still listen to Megadeth. And Meat Loaf has a lot of political opinions I don't agree with but Bat Out of Hell II is one of my favorite records.

On the other side of the coin, people who have turned on Bruce Springsteen because of stuff he's said about Trump are hilarious to me. They'll claim to have been fans for decades but can no longer listen to him. If you've been listening to Springsteen for decades and are somehow surprised he doesn't like Trump, then you were not listening to his music very closely. At all.

I don't care what a musicians political beliefs are. It's their opinion and I respect that. I don't want them grandstanding or shoving it in my face in every lyric and interview, but I wouldn't ignore them or their music b/c of their beliefs.

On a sorta related note, I do however ignore bands based on religion. If you are blaspheming my Lord and Savior through lyrics and cove art, you won't get a penny or a listen from me.

I have a bigger problem with Hollywood and the tripe that comes out of their mouths. Actually, I think Mustaine has been trolling us for years. Just because he's got wild beliefs doesn't make him a stupid man.

Off the top of my head I can't think of any musicians I don't listen to because of anything besides the fact that I don't like their music.

And I agree with ya Zombie about Springsteen; I totally disagree with his politics and if he started spouting stuff during a concert it would probably piss me off but I'm not at all surprised. And I still listen to the man's music (especially the early stuff, that's golden to me).

I guess I'm able to separate people's personal lives and opinions from the music they produce. But Sentinel raises an interesting point; if the person's music overtly espouses an opposing view of something I feel strongly (and I'm talking about constantly, not just a song here or there) then I'd probably stop listening to that artist. Fortunately I can't think of anyone I listen to that falls into that category.