Neil Young has published a new blog post slamming the decision to hold concerts in the COVID-19 era.
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“Recently I pulled out of Farm Aid for fear that unprotected children may become infected with COVID by folks who went to the show, caught the virus, had no symptoms and returned home to hug their kids or someone else’s kids,” Young wrote on his Neil Young Archives site.
“I know of tours that are out there and have to stop where they are and isolate in motels because one person among them tested positive. I ask myself, why are they out there?”
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Young went on to call “money and business” the reason why touring has resumed. “This has been the American way for years and years,” he writes. “Now it has turned on the country in a new way."
He cited Garth Brooks and “others like him” for setting a good example by putting a pause on their tours. “But it will take the big promoters and managers/agents to make the difference,” he wrote. “If it’s all about money, I think they should protect the people who are their livelihood."
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"Folks see concerts advertised and think it must be OK to go and mingle," Young says at the end of his piece. "It's not. These are super-spreader events, irresponsible Freedom Fests. We need Freedom to be safe. Not a bad example. This could be just the beginning."
Young’s piece comes just days after he announced he would not perform at Farm Aid this year.
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