Rob Halford On Spotify Controversy: “Your Opinion Doesn’t Matter. [Neil Young] Did the Right Thing for Him”

For being the frontman of one of the most British bands in history, Rob Halford is definitely a proponent of the American dream. Whether he’s unabashed about his sexuality, owning up to his own bad ideas, or being declared a Kentucky colonel, the Judas Priest frontman seems to support the U.S.A.’s fabled freedom with humility and grace. Now, the metal god is standing by singer-songwriter Neil Young, who he believes is doing the right thing in his current boycott against streaming service Spotify.

For those of you who don’t know, folk singer Neil Young sparked a movement of artists taking their music off Spotify rather than share a platform with podcaster Joe Rogan’s COVID misinformation (and constant use of racial slurs, apparently — turns out he didn’t know that was a bad thing? Seriously, that was his excuse). This caused a bit of a problem for the company, with capitalization losses reported between $2 billion and $4 billion, all while #CancelSpotify trended online. Meanwhile, metal stars including Disturbed’s David Draiman, ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, and Poison’s Rikki Rockett all weighed in on the matter.

Now, speaking to Billboard, Halford has made it clear that he believes in Young’s freedom to stand up for what he believes, and thinks that the opinions of outsiders don’t really matter here:

“I applaud Neil Young for standing up for what he believes in so strongly. I think each of us are dealing with the circumstances of this drama as we see fit. I don’t believe in sending out misinformation or disinformation about something that has taken so many lives when the scientific facts speak for themselves. Everybody has an opinion — did [Young] do the right thing? Did he do the wrong thing? You know what? Your opinion doesn’t matter. He did the right thing for him.”

Good on Halford. While this is a bit of a softball stand — Halford says he agrees with Young, but there’s never any implication that he’d join him in his protest — we still appreciate him coming out against COVID misinformation. And these days, we’ll take what we can get.

Fans can catch Judas Priest with Queensryche at one of their currently-scheduled reunion dates below:

3/4 – Peoria Civic Theatre – Peoria, IL [tickets]
3/6 – Mission Ballroom – Denver, CO [tickets]
3/7 – Maverik Center – West Valley City, UT [tickets]
3/9 – Angel Of The Winds Arena – Everett, WA [tickets]
3/10 – Moda Center – Portland, OR [tickets]
3/12 – Fox Theater – Oakland – Oakland, CA [tickets]
3/13 – Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood – Las Vegas, NV [tickets]
3/15 – The Shrine – Los Angeles, CA [tickets]
3/16 – Arizona Federal Theatre – Phoenix, AZ [tickets]
3/18 – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory – Irving, TX [tickets]
3/20 – H-E-B Center at Cedar Park – Cedar Park, TX [tickets]
3/21 – Freeman Coliseum – San Antonio, TX [tickets]
3/23 – Nashville Municipal Auditorium – Nashville, TN [tickets]
3/25 – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre – Alpharetta, GA [tickets]
3/27 – Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center – Charleston, WV [tickets]
3/29 – The Met Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA [tickets]
3/30 – Prudential Center – Newark, NJ [tickets]
3/31 – The Theater at MGM National Harbor – National Harbor, MD [tickets]
4/2 – Foxwoods Resort Casino – Mashantucket, CT [tickets]
4/4 – Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell – Lowell, MA [tickets]
4/7 – Scotiabank Centre – Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada [tickets]
4/10 – Videotron Center – Quebec City, Quebec, Canada [tickets]
4/11 – Place Bell – Laval, Quebec, Canada [tickets]
4/13 – FirstOntario Centre – Hamilton, Ontario, Canada [tickets]