all I can think of is alice cooper and ted nugent
Rock bands are probably generally oriented to the left. But to balance this, country bands are probably oriented to the right.
Ted Nugent, 99.837% of country bands and performers, Britney Spears, and Three Doors Down are four that jump immediately to mind.
I’d imagine most “Christian Rock” bands would be pretty big for George.
Johnny Ramone (RIP) was a Republican.
I read an article somewhere, about a month or so ago, about a bunch of Republican punk bands, which seems to me to be a contradiction in terms, but whatever. I can’t remember the names of any of them though.
Moving this from IMHO to Cafe Society.
There’s a rock band called Pokerface who are very outspoken about their right-leaning political views. Of course, they aren’t tearing up the charts, either, but there you have it.
And wasn’t Sammy Hagar at one time openly conservative?
I believe Lynyrd Skynyrd has played some GOP gigs.
He was a big fan of Reagan IIRC.
You gotta remember this about Ted Nugent: He’s the guy who spent days stewing in his own shit and piss to avoid being drafted for Vietnam.
Conservatives aren’t defined by their enthusiasm for the Vietnam war, they’re defined by their hostility to high taxes, and the spending thereof on social programs of dubious worth. Draft avoiders spanned the political spectrum.
In an 80s interview with Penthouse, Mick Jagger claimed that every major black musician he knew had voted for Reagan.
Fiscal conservatives, at least. Which is what Ted is. From the available evidence, Ted is half libertarian, half caveman.
The New York Times had an article (hope the link works) a while back about the conservative punk phenomenon.
Some of them may feel that they have to muzzle their views for commercial reasons, but there are, and always have been, many progressive thinkers in country music.
Would you count Johnny Cash? The Man In Black is probably about the most progressive country song I’ve heard.
If we’re going to list left-leaning country acts:
Willie Nelson- quite outspoken against Bush
Bonnie Raitt- performed at an anti-Bush rally
That babe who got kicked out of Mandalay Bay (or wherever) for pimping F911 to the audience (I think maybe it was Barbara Mandrell)
HeyHomie: Unless I’m thinking of a completely different incident, that was Linda Ronstadt not Ms Mandrell.
Like the Dixie Chicks?
Merle Haggard, writer of “Okie from Muskogee” (which he has said was idiotic), has said he’s upset with Bush.
Steve Earle is pretty damn liberal.
I think you’ll find a lot of the progressive country artists are connected with old-school populism which has its roots in rural areas.
About pro-Republican bands, I think I heard about Zakk Wylde, Ozzy Osbourne’s former guitarist, making some conservative statements while playing with his band at an Ozzfest concert. Funny thing is, Ozzy performed “War Pigs” at the same concert and used a video montage that had images of Hitler and Bush.
Yeah, but I’d have to give Toby Keith the victory in that little war. Of course, he’s my favorite country singer, so go figure.