Green Day Hates Trump. Are You Really Surprised?

On the eve of the New Year, it was surprisingly revealed that three middle-aged punk rockers, already inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can still astound and provoke crowds, despite their dapper suits. For Green Day, the contention arose from altering the lyrics of "American Idiot" from "I'm not a part of a redneck agenda" to "I'm not a part of the MAGA agenda" during their stint on Dick Clark's New Year's Rocking Eve with Ryan Seacrest. A change they have regularly incorporated for some time now. This modification sparked an uproar on social media and conservative news outlets, with many appearing perplexed by Billie Joe Armstrong's left-wing political ideology, which he has been transparent about for many years. Elon Musk responded on platform X, stating that "Green Day has transitioned from vehemently opposing the system to weakly advocating for it."

In the recent episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, we attempted to decipher the exaggerated reaction to Green Day's performance and also speculated on the impact musicians could have on this year's presidential elections. Andy Greene joined host Brian Hiatt for this conversation.

The episode recalls similar outbursts in the past, such as conservatives accusing Rage Against the Machine of becoming "woke" due to perceived vaccine regulations at their concerts. We also assess the potential influence of the current left-wing backlash against Joe Biden on musicians' choices to publicly support him or perform at fundraisers, and speculate on how artists might find novel ways to comment on Donald Trump's third presidential campaign. The potential role of Taylor Swift in the election was also a topic of discussion.

For the full episode, please refer to your preferred podcast provider, Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or simply hit play above.

(Dick Clark Productions, the producer of New Year's Rockin’ Eve, is an enterprise of Penske Media Eldridge, a partnership between PMC and Eldridge. PMC is the parent company of Rolling Stone.)

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