Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain had some harsh words for celebrities who use their platform to preach about politics, especially outspoken rocker Bruce Springsteen.
During an interview with YouTube channel The Complete Disaster Network, Cain – whose wife is a spiritual advisor to President Donald Trump – suggested that politics and music should not mix.
“We’re blessed to live where we live. And I’m obviously a conservative. I used to be a Democrat back in the old days, but I couldn’t go there anymore. I thought [Barack] Obama maybe, but then I saw where he was going and I’m, like, ‘Okay, we can’t have this anymore,’” Cain explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “So I’m a diehard conservative. And guys like Bruce Springsteen should shut up. Honestly, shut up, Bruce. Who’s the other one? Robert De Niro. I mean, who cares, guys? Really? Do your art.”
The Journey rocker went on to explain that he believes being patriotic and being political are two very separate things.
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“I try to keep politics out of my music,” he remarked. “Now I’m releasing this patriotic song [‘The Winds of Freedom: A Salute To America’] because I’m a diehard patriot. Like Kid Rock, who’s my friend — we’re a couple of patriots and … we love our flag and we love our nation. And we grew up that way.”
Jonathan Cain Says Bruce Springsteen Is an ‘Annoying, Bitter Old Man’
“I think in the end we should do what we do and try to unify,” Cain continued. “I think our job [as artists] is unifying people. I mean, 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 [political] parties out there in the audience, respective parties, and they’re singing ‘Don’t Stop Believin’.”
Cain has been an outspoken supporter of Trump and even performed at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate. On the other end of the spectrum, Springsteen has been one of the loudest critics against the Trump administration. Still, Cain insisted his personal political beliefs don’t bleed into his music.
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“People say, ‘Well, you’re a Christian and you’re a conservative,’ and I’m, like, ‘So what?’ I don’t preach it on stage,” Cain noted. “I don’t spend 10 minutes talking about it. That’s who I am. And that’s okay. Again, I just don’t think it’s cool to have celebrities going there. It’s a bad look. And Bruce, I mean, what the heck? I used to like him, and now he’s just annoying. He’s an annoying, bitter old man. I mean, stop it. Really. You were born in the USA, weren’t you, dude? So act like it. But even that song [Springsteen’s ‘Born In The USA’], if you look at the lyrics, it’s a kind of a diss to our country.”
Cain is out with Journey for the Final Frontier tour. The keyboardist insists it will be his last trek with the band, with dates currently scheduled through the end of November.
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Gallery Credit: UCR Staff
