Rock royalties Brian May and Eric Clapton differ on their stance concerning the COVID-19 vaccine.
The guitarist of rock band Queen calls anti-vaxxers “fruitcakes” and disagrees with Eric Clapton’s “anti-vaccination rhetoric.”
In an interview with British online newspaper The Independent, May was quoted as saying: “Anti-vax people, I’m sorry, I think they’re fruitcakes. There’s been plenty of evidence to show that vaccination helps. On the whole, they’ve been very safe. There’s always going to be some side effect in any drug you take, but to go around saying vaccines are a plot to kill you, I’m sorry, that goes in the fruitcake jar for me.”
Recall that a couple of weeks ago, it was reported that the 76-year-old Clapton issued a statement on his refusal to play any venue that requires attendees to be vaccinated.
Clapton’s statement was quoted through a Telegram account of one Robin Monotti, film producer and a known critic of the U.K. government’s response to COVID-19.
Previously, Clapton also shared his “disastrous health experience” with AstraZeneca when he got vaccinated early this year through Monotti’s Telegram account.
Clapton also recorded a song written by Van Morrison that has since been used as a protest song on U.K.’s past lockdowns.
In the same interview with The Independent, the 74-year-old May said, “I love Eric Clapton, he’s my hero, but he has different views from me in many ways."
The "Bohemian Rhapsody" guitarist also took a slight dig at Clapton when he said, "He’s a person who thinks it’s OK to shoot animals for fun, so we have disagreements, but I would never stop respecting the man.”
The vaccination has been a heavily politicized issue.
In the U.S. where Clapton is slated to play in “Red State cities like Fort Worth, Texas; Tampa, Florida; and New Orleans, Louisiana,” venues are still “requiring that guests provide proof of vaccinations, evidence of a negative lateral flow test taken with the last 48 hours, or proof of natural immunity based upon a positive PCR test taken within 180 days of the concert,” wrote Rolling Stone.
There is no news if Clapton’s management has cancelled said shows.
In the U.S. acts such as Fall Out Boy and Foo Fighters to James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, REO Speedwagon and the like have cancelled or postponed shows due to the spread of the Delta variant.