Brian May isn’t impressed with Eric Clapton’s anti-vaccine stance

Among its many dimensions, the pandemic has offered people the opportunity to see where their favorite artists are at in terms of vaccines and government responses to COVID-19. That includes a few disappointing moments – Eric Clapton and Van Morrison, we’re looking at you – as well as a few instances where musicians’ embrace of science reflected them very well. The last of these comes from Queen guitarist (and astrophysicist) Brian May.

Consequence of Sound reported that May recently criticized Eric Clapton and, more broadly, all anti-vaxxers in a recent interview. Earlier this year, Clapton expressed his skepticism about vaccines and then adopted a conspiracy theory on vaccines and male fertility.

During an in-depth interview with The independent, May was asked about Clapton and the anti-vaccine movement. May didn’t hold back. “I love Eric Clapton, he’s my hero, but he’s got very different views from me in a lot of ways,” May said. “He’s a person who thinks it’s okay to shoot animals for fun, so we have our disagreements, but I would never stop respecting the man.”

He then turned to anti-vaccines more broadly. “Anti-vaccines, I’m sorry, I think they’re fruit cakes. There is a lot of evidence to show that vaccination helps, ”he said. “Overall they have been very safe. There will always be side effects in any medicine you take, but to say that the vaccines are a plot to kill you, I’m sorry, that goes in the jar of fruit cake for me.

In retrospect, it might not be shocking that a rock star with a PhD passionately advocates for science and against willful ignorance. See also: The Offspring, whose singer has a doctorate in molecular biology, parting with their drummer (unvaccinated). But at a time when many musical icons have chosen to dub bad science, it’s encouraging to see some of their peers moving in the right direction.