LOS ANGELES—Controversial media personality Joe Rogan, whose Spotify podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” hosted the largely discredited anti-vaxxer Dr. Robert Malone in late December, announced that he would do covers of the complete catalogs of legendary musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, who have pulled their music from the Swedish streaming and media services provider. Rogan also said he would do the same for any other musicians who left and that he would even fill in for any departing podcast hosts, adding that he could do a genuine British accent—an apparent swipe at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who have a deal to produce and host a podcast on Spotify but have expressed their concerns about Spotify’s largely indifferent attitude toward Rogan’s COVID misinformation.
“Look,” Rogan said, “I can sing. I can write, too.” As proof, he referred to his seminal song, “Voodoo Punanny,” which he wrote and sang and which Warner Bros. Records produced in 2000. He then questioned how relevant Young and Mitchell really are today, noting that Young’s best-known hit, “Heart of Gold,” has largely circular lyrics and an unsatisfying ending with no climax. In contrast, “Voodoo Punanny,” he said, tells the story of a one-night stand a man had with a young woman named Ilene, whose “ultra hot fox mammy jammy” culminated in the orgasm of his life. The song ends with a clever, surprise twist for listeners: as a result of the fling, the man has a son, whom he has been warning about the “nuclear powered” voodoo punanny. “Neil Young,” Rogan said, “is irrelevant.” Then, apparently referring to lyrics from Young’s “Heart of Gold,” he said, “He ain’t gettin’ old—he is old.” After taking a hit from a bong, Rogan then seemed to confuse Joni Mitchell with another legendary and long since deceased singer when he concluded, “And when was the last time Janis Joplin did anything?”
With around 11 million regular listeners, Rogan’s podcast is one of the most popular—and perhaps most polarizing, at least recently—in the world. Fans and supporters appear to see him as the voice of freedom of speech and, in some cases, the voice of reason. Former attorney now award-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald sees the recent Spotify boycotts by Young and Mitchell as left-influenced censorship that he views as a cause célèbre in the fight against liberals’ “petty-tyrant tactics.” On the other hand, Rogan’s critics, most of whom aren’t lawyers or award-winning journalists but who actually know right from wrong, see his dissemination of misinformation during the COVID pandemic as a public-health threat. Rogan has issued an apology of sorts over the Malone episode, but one industry observer noted that if legendary musicians Eric Clapton and Van Morrison, who are prominent anti-vaxxers/conspiracy theorists, partnered with Rogan, the three could even do covers of the catalog of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, another group that recently removed its music from Spotify.
