Donald Trump critic Bruce Springsteen has been attacked by a fellow musician for making his opposition to the president a fixture of his shows.
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain, 76, took aim at Springsteen, also 76, during an appearance on The Complete Disaster Network, where he said he “used to like” him and was once a Democrat himself before changing party allegiances.
“I used to be a Democrat back in the old days,” the husband of Trump administration adviser Paula White-Cain said. “But I couldn’t go there anymore, you know? I’m a diehard conservative.
“And guys like Bruce Springsteen should shut up. You know, really, honestly, shut up, Bruce, you know? Him and who’s the other one? [Actor] Robert DeNiro. I mean, who cares, guys? Do your art. I try to keep politics out of my music.”
He added that he regarded the “Dancing in the Dark” singer as “an annoying, bitter old man.”
“People say, ‘Well, you’re a Christian and you’re conservative,’ and I’m like, ‘So what?’ I don’t preach it on stage. I don’t spend 10 minutes talking about it.”
He then attacked the boss over his iconic tune “Born in the USA,” saying, “You were born in the USA, weren’t you, dude? So act like it. But even that song, if you look at the lyrics, I mean, it’s a kind of a diss toward our country,” Cain said.
“I mean, [former Beatle] Paul McCartney said, ‘Hey, when I sing Hey, Jude, Democrats and Republicans all sing together,’ And I feel the same way with Journey.
“We have our parties out there in the audience, respective parties, and they’re singing ‘Don’t Stop Believin’.’
He then said: “I just don’t think it’s cool to have celebrities going there. It’s a bad look.”
During the show, Cain also mentioned his new patriotic song “Winds of Freedom,” which the Daily Mail reports is inspired by Eric Metaxas, an evangelical author and personality.
He integrates his political views in the song, adding that other artists like Ted Nugent and Kid Rock had also done so. “We love our flag, and we love our nation, and we grew up that way,” Cain said.
Later in the podcast, he added, “Me and Kid Rock, we’re probably on an island. There’s a few of us, and I proudly stand there with my flag on that island. And if anybody’s got a problem with me, America and Jesus, then bring it.”
Kid Rock has made his political views and alignment with the MAGA movement a core tenet of his brand, flying in Apache helicopters with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and saluting two more when they hovered outside his home.
It comes after Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger warned Springsteen not to go too far with the politicization of his shows, for fear of putting crowds off.
Jagger spoke on The New York Times’ podcast with David Marchese, saying, “The bottom line of my thing really is that my job in the live music world is those people that come is to have the best time they possibly can.”
“For two hours or whatever it is, to forget all their problems and the problems of the world and their mortgages and whatever, just to give them the best time they can have. You don’t want to lecture them.”
