Springsteen guitarist Nils Lofgren takes music off Spotify over Joe Rogan's vaccine 'misinformation'

Nils Lofgren announced Saturday that he’s removing his music from Spotify to protest vaccine misinformation propagated by Joe Rogan.

The 70-year-old Bruce Springsteen guitarist made the announcement in solidarity with Neil Young, who removed his music from Spotify days earlier, by making his announcement in Young’s newsletter.

Joni Mitchell has also followed suit by taking her music off the service in protest. 

He's out: Guitar Nils Lofgren, 70, announced Saturday on his friend Neil Young's newsletter that he had removed 'the last 27 years' of his music from Spotify over Joe Rogan's vaccine misinformation; seen in 2016 in Mountain View, Calif.

He’s out: Guitar Nils Lofgren, 70, announced Saturday on his friend Neil Young’s newsletter that he had removed ‘the last 27 years’ of his music from Spotify over Joe Rogan’s vaccine misinformation; seen in 2016 in Mountain View, Calif.

‘A few days ago, my wife Amy and I became aware of Neil and Daryl [Hannah] standing with hundreds of health care professionals, scientists, doctors and nurses in calling out Spotify for promoting lies and misinformation that are hurting and killing people,’ Lofgren wrote in his statement.

‘When these heroic women and men, who’ve spent their lives healing and saving ours, cry out for help you don’t turn your back on them for money and power. You listen and stand with them.’

The guitar virtuoso added that he had ‘now gotten the last 27 years of my music taken off Spotify,’ and he was contacting the record labels that owned his earlier music to request that they also remove his songs.

Lofgren, who has played on and off in Young’s working group Crazy Horse, noted his long friendship with the Canadian rocker.

Going for all of it: Lofgren noted his long friendship with Neil Young and said he was contacting other record labels that own his older recordings to request they be taken off Spotify as well

Going for all of it: Lofgren noted his long friendship with Neil Young and said he was contacting other record labels that own his older recordings to request they be taken off Spotify as well

Comedian Joe Rogan, who hosts the popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, has been accused of spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in several episodes. He signed a $100M exclusive deal with Spotify in May 2020; seen in 2018 in Pasadena

Comedian Joe Rogan, who hosts the popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, has been accused of spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in several episodes. He signed a $100M exclusive deal with Spotify in May 2020; seen in 2018 in Pasadena

‘Neil and I go back 53 years. [Wife] Amy [Aiello] and I are honored and blessed to call Neil and Daryl friends, and knew standing with them was the right choice,’ he continued.

‘We encourage all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere, to stand with us all, and cut ties with Spotify. Music is our planet’s sacred weapon, uniting and healing billions of souls every day. Pick up your sword and start swinging,’ he added, before mentioning that he was working in solidarity with Mitchell as well.

The exodus of rock legends from Spotify began after Young, 76, posted a since-deleted letter on Tuesday that took aim at Rogan, who signed an exclusive $100 million deal with Spotify in May 2020, which gave the streaming service exclusive rights to his popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.  

Leading the way: The exodus of rock legends from Spotify began after Young, 76, posted a since-deleted letter on Tuesday that took aim at Rogan while announcing he was leaving Spotify; seen in 2014 in London

Leading the way: The exodus of rock legends from Spotify began after Young, 76, posted a since-deleted letter on Tuesday that took aim at Rogan while announcing he was leaving Spotify; seen in 2014 in London

‘With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE [Joe Rogan Experience], which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence,’ Young wrote..

‘Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.

‘I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform … They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,’ he continued.

‘I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.’ 

Joni Mitchell, 78, announced on Saturday that she was standing ‘in solidarity’ with her friend Young by removing her music Spotify as well.

As of Sunday, only a handful of her albums remain, and her most popular and critically acclaimed albums are all missing.

In her announcement, she shared an open letter signed by a coalition of medical professionals requesting that Spotify to work to remove ‘mass-misinformation events’ from its service. 

Solidarity: Young's friend Joni Mitchell followed suit on Saturday. As of Sunday, only a handful of her albums remain on the service; seen in 2019 in Beverly Hills

Solidarity: Young’s friend Joni Mitchell followed suit on Saturday. As of Sunday, only a handful of her albums remain on the service; seen in 2019 in Beverly Hills

‘I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,’ Mitchell said in a statement posted to her website.

‘Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives.

‘I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.’

Her post referenced a Joe Rogan Experience episode from December 31, 2021, which featured ‘baseless conspiracy theories.’

‘By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals,’ the letter said.

‘This is not only a scientific or medical concern; it is a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform.

‘We, the undersigned doctors, nurses, scientists, and educators thus call on Spotify to immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform.’

source: dailymail.co.uk