Queen guitarist Brian May bashes Eric Clapton, anti-vaxxers as 'fruitcakes'
May says he respects Clapton, but adds, "he has very different views from me in many ways."
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Brian May of Queen supports vaccinations.
Brian May, guitarist for Queen, says he has respect for legendary musician Eric Clapton. But he doesn't agree with Clapton's July announcement that he won't perform at venues that require concertgoers to show proof of coronavirus vaccination.
"I love Eric Clapton. He's my hero, but he has very different views from me in many ways," May told The Independent. "He's a person who thinks it's OK to shoot animals for fun, so we have our disagreements, but I would never stop respecting the man."
Clapton, 76, was vaccinated against the coronavirus with the AstraZeneca vaccine in May but has said he experienced "disastrous" side effects in which his "hands and feet were either frozen, numb or burning."
May, who has a Ph.D in astrophysics from Imperial College London, may have been relatively kind to Clapton by name, but overall, he has harsh words for those who shun the vaccines.
"Anti-vax people, I'm sorry, I think they're fruitcakes," May said. "There's plenty of evidence to show that vaccination helps. On the whole they've been very safe. There's always going to be some side effect in any drug you take, but to go around saying vaccines are a plot to kill you, I'm sorry, that goes in the fruitcake jar for me."
May also dissed flat-Earthers, moon-landing deniers and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the interview. He's also not a fan of the billionaire businessmen sending themselves into space.
"I love space exploration," May said. But "when it comes to one very rich guy putting himself into space -- actually not into space, only about 60 miles high -- I ask myself, 'What is it really for?' Is it blazing a trail? Not really, because men have been to the moon. Is it some kind of vanity, and if it is could the money have been better spent elsewhere?"