Neil Young in 2018
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
Matthew 16:24-26
In 1976 the musicians Crosby, Stills, and Nash were at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto and we were part of the sold-out crowd for a great concert. Missing was the fourth member of the super-group, Neil Young. Young came to the rodeo late and rode off early in terms of his involvement with the other three, and while their vocal harmonies were sublime their interpersonal relationships were not.
It was deja vu all over again as group reunited recently, although not for a geezer tour or album. Crosby, Stills, and Nash are following Young's lead in removing their music from Spotify, a music streaming venue none of us could have imagined nigh on 50 years ago. Young got this ball rolling as a protest against the Spotify podcast for Joe Rogan, whose wacky views on COVID-19, including vaccines and restrictions often fly in the face of sound science and commitment to the public good. Young told Spotify that it was him or Rogan, but not both.
This was a bold move on the part of Young who is never bashful about expressing his views on the climate emergency and other issues. It doesn't hurt that he is a very wealthy man who sold half his catalogue of songs for a tidy $150 million not all that long ago. And other streaming services still carry his music. Not long after Young's announcement another Canadian, Joni Mitchell, joined him and other musicians have done so as well.
The reason Spotify went with Rogan is that they signed him to a $100+ million contract and he is hugely popular with the conspiracy crowd. The move has backfired though with Spotify losing $4 billion in market value. Money doesn't just talk, it barks like a loony host, and Spotify has added cautions to Rogan's podcast episodes and Rogan himself has proclaimed that he's a Neil Young fan and will be a little more circumspect.
Should we look to celebrities to be our prophetic voices for our time? They are entertainers after all. Yet when we look back to the 1960's we see that stars such as Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poiter, and even gun-loving Charlton Heston took part in Civil Rights events alongside Dr. Martin Luther King. In the 1950's the late, great Betty White had a TV show cancelled because she regularly included a Black dancer and refused to stop featuring him.
On the other side, Justin Bieber, the Canadian performer who often speaks of his Christian faith, was part of a concert in Saudi Arabia in December even though Human Rights Watch has called on celebrities to boycott the kingdom, saying such events are aimed at diverting attention and deflecting scrutiny from the Saudi regime's terrible human rights record. Perhaps Justin needs to do a little more bible study during those long hours on the plane.
I do get a kick out of Young "sticking it to the Man" even if he now kinda os the Man in terms of wealth and privilege. Why not use that influence for good?
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