How Musicians by genre voted

[If my soul was made of stone]

Don't believe they can vote in US, but Van Morrison and Eric Clapton have both done songs this year protesting lockdowns so guessing those two were rooting for Trump (even though in UK Trump pretty hated).

Clapton certainly would have endorsed Trump if his infamous drunken endorsement of Enoch Powell were any indication (he's apologized for it but not quite made it clear if he still stands by any of it).

[Big Abraham]

I’m actually not convinced Trump won country musicians by a landslide. Country fans, yes. But Trump lost Davidson County/Nashville worse than any candidate of either party since 1944. And there are a lot of country musicians who are known to have much more liberal views than you might expect based on their fanbases/style/lyrics. Nashville remains a pretty staunchly Democratic city, and the music industry there is no exception. It’s not LA or anything, but it’s not anywhere near as Republican as you might think.

Frankly I think Biden pretty soundly won musicians as a whole, regardless of genre. There’s a reason it’s rare to find a truly conservative musician/actor/artist of any kind. It is not a field that attracts a conservative mindset as a general rule. And classic rock is a particularly bizarre one to say would be Trump voters. Almost every classic rock musician I can think of, from Neil Young to Bob Dylan, was left-wing back in the day and remains that way now. Hell, Young became a US citizen just to vote against Trump.

Bob Dylan has always been pretty conservative, other than that I agree.

Hardly. Listen to "Masters of War," "With God on Our Side" or "It's Alright, Ma." Other than some of the stuff he was writing while under the influence of born-again evangelicalism, he's always been a stalwart reformist (though, certainly not to the degree Tom Paxton, or the leftist Phil Ochs were).

He was a Goldwater supporter in the early 60s and explicitly repudiated the anti-war counterculture movement that tried to adopt him as an idol.

No. From "I Shall Be Free No. 10," 1964

Now, I'm liberal, but to a degree
I want everybody to be free
But if you think that I'll let Barry Goldwater
Move in next door and marry my daughter
You must think I'm crazy

[vitoNova]

Honky-tonk = 99% liberal.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

I’m actually not convinced Trump won country musicians by a landslide. Country fans, yes. But Trump lost Davidson County/Nashville worse than any candidate of either party since 1944. And there are a lot of country musicians who are known to have much more liberal views than you might expect based on their fanbases/style/lyrics. Nashville remains a pretty staunchly Democratic city, and the music industry there is no exception. It’s not LA or anything, but it’s not anywhere near as Republican as you might think.

Frankly I think Biden pretty soundly won musicians as a whole, regardless of genre. There’s a reason it’s rare to find a truly conservative musician/actor/artist of any kind. It is not a field that attracts a conservative mindset as a general rule. And classic rock is a particularly bizarre one to say would be Trump voters. Almost every classic rock musician I can think of, from Neil Young to Bob Dylan, was left-wing back in the day and remains that way now. Hell, Young became a US citizen just to vote against Trump.

Bob Dylan has always been pretty conservative, other than that I agree.

Hardly. Listen to "Masters of War," "With God on Our Side" or "It's Alright, Ma." Other than some of the stuff he was writing while under the influence of born-again evangelicalism, he's always been a stalwart reformist (though, certainly not to the degree Tom Paxton, or the leftist Phil Ochs were).

He was a Goldwater supporter in the early 60s and explicitly repudiated the anti-war counterculture movement that tried to adopt him as an idol.

No. From "I Shall Be Free No. 10," 1964

Now, I'm liberal, but to a degree
I want everybody to be free
But if you think that I'll let Barry Goldwater
Move in next door and marry my daughter
You must think I'm crazy

Yeah he said in his autobiography that Goldwater was his favourite politician of the 60s. Make of those lyrics what you will.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

I’m actually not convinced Trump won country musicians by a landslide. Country fans, yes. But Trump lost Davidson County/Nashville worse than any candidate of either party since 1944. And there are a lot of country musicians who are known to have much more liberal views than you might expect based on their fanbases/style/lyrics. Nashville remains a pretty staunchly Democratic city, and the music industry there is no exception. It’s not LA or anything, but it’s not anywhere near as Republican as you might think.

Frankly I think Biden pretty soundly won musicians as a whole, regardless of genre. There’s a reason it’s rare to find a truly conservative musician/actor/artist of any kind. It is not a field that attracts a conservative mindset as a general rule. And classic rock is a particularly bizarre one to say would be Trump voters. Almost every classic rock musician I can think of, from Neil Young to Bob Dylan, was left-wing back in the day and remains that way now. Hell, Young became a US citizen just to vote against Trump.

I don't follow country at all, but the only potential Biden voters I can think of are Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Willie Nelson and maybe even Taylor Swift if she even counts as country right now. Kacey Musgraves and Carrie Underwood don't seem to me as Trump supporters. Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and Garth Brooks probably supported Trump.

My faith is that the loudest rock members are democratic but the ones who vote quietly are Republican. Bon Jovi and Springsteen are two of the biggest names to support Biden but I think it's very possible other less known rock members secretly vote for Trump.

Garth Brooks is a liberal - he supported Obama. Most musicians and celebrities are left leaning because they've been exposed to the experience of lots of cultures and different types of people and conservatism does not mesh well with the resulting empathy and compassion. For instance Brooks is a liberal because his sister is gay and he had to watch her be subject to homophobia growing up. Jimmy Buffett is a Democrat. Merle Haggard was a Democrat. Suspect that many country singers are silently Dem because the largely right-leaning fan base would make an issue of it. They are unlikely to be Libertarian voters. The vast majority of sane people do not consider the Libertarian Party to be a legitimate option for voting.

But you have absolute deadbrains like Ted Nugent and Hank Williams Jr who say disgusting things with no regard to any of the people they've known who might be hurt by it.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

I’m actually not convinced Trump won country musicians by a landslide. Country fans, yes. But Trump lost Davidson County/Nashville worse than any candidate of either party since 1944. And there are a lot of country musicians who are known to have much more liberal views than you might expect based on their fanbases/style/lyrics. Nashville remains a pretty staunchly Democratic city, and the music industry there is no exception. It’s not LA or anything, but it’s not anywhere near as Republican as you might think.

Frankly I think Biden pretty soundly won musicians as a whole, regardless of genre. There’s a reason it’s rare to find a truly conservative musician/actor/artist of any kind. It is not a field that attracts a conservative mindset as a general rule. And classic rock is a particularly bizarre one to say would be Trump voters. Almost every classic rock musician I can think of, from Neil Young to Bob Dylan, was left-wing back in the day and remains that way now. Hell, Young became a US citizen just to vote against Trump.

Bob Dylan has always been pretty conservative, other than that I agree.

Hardly. Listen to "Masters of War," "With God on Our Side" or "It's Alright, Ma." Other than some of the stuff he was writing while under the influence of born-again evangelicalism, he's always been a stalwart reformist (though, certainly not to the degree Tom Paxton, or the leftist Phil Ochs were).

He was a Goldwater supporter in the early 60s and explicitly repudiated the anti-war counterculture movement that tried to adopt him as an idol.

No. From "I Shall Be Free No. 10," 1964

Now, I'm liberal, but to a degree
I want everybody to be free
But if you think that I'll let Barry Goldwater
Move in next door and marry my daughter
You must think I'm crazy

Yeah he said in his autobiography that Goldwater was his favourite politician of the 60s. Make of those lyrics what you will.

Bob Dylan has never been ideologically or intellectually coherent so it's pointless to speculate. That's part of why I've never been a big fan of his - plus I just find his music to be highly overrated outside of a few songs.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

Hank Williams Jr doesn't hold a candle to his father.

Hank Sr. was a Republican but he was a Republican who died on January 1, 1953. He was also a Republican in Alabama, which meant something a lot different in 1950 than it does today.

He was a Christian who found solace in gospel which contrasted his brutal and tragically short life.

He was also the first mainstream American musician who wrote his own songs, paving the way for generations of country and rock and roll songwriters. Artists like Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson, Mick Jagger, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, among others, cited him as an influence and covered/paid tribute to his work.

Hank Williams is the most important musician in American history. Sorry for going on this tangent.  

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I think what a lot of people are forgetting is that re-electing Trump would not end the lockdowns or reopen music venues, as that's out of his control, but continuing his ineffective Covid response and encouraging things like anti-maskers or even vaccine refusal (while simultaneously trying to play up how awesome it is that he got the vaccine made supposedly) would extend them at the local level. Biden even ran an ad featuring an interview with the manager of a famous music venue attacking Trump's Covid response and how Biden would get them open again faster with a better response...and then took it down per that guy's request because he was getting death threats from Trumpists.

And progressive rock musicians understand this.

[The Free North]

I think what a lot of people are forgetting is that re-electing Trump would not end the lockdowns or reopen music venues, as that's out of his control, but continuing his ineffective Covid response and encouraging things like anti-maskers or even vaccine refusal (while simultaneously trying to play up how awesome it is that he got the vaccine made supposedly) would extend them at the local level. Biden even ran an ad featuring an interview with the manager of a famous music venue attacking Trump's Covid response and how Biden would get them open again faster with a better response...and then took it down per that guy's request because he was getting death threats from Trumpists.

And progressive rock musicians understand this.

What is progressive rock? Is that like progressive house?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I think what a lot of people are forgetting is that re-electing Trump would not end the lockdowns or reopen music venues, as that's out of his control, but continuing his ineffective Covid response and encouraging things like anti-maskers or even vaccine refusal (while simultaneously trying to play up how awesome it is that he got the vaccine made supposedly) would extend them at the local level. Biden even ran an ad featuring an interview with the manager of a famous music venue attacking Trump's Covid response and how Biden would get them open again faster with a better response...and then took it down per that guy's request because he was getting death threats from Trumpists.

And progressive rock musicians understand this.

What is progressive rock? Is that like progressive house?

Rock musicians who are progressive. Not a genre.

There is a genre called progressive hardcore though!

[Samof94]

A more interesting question would be how did musicians by genre vote in the primary? Indie rockers are a solidly Sanders demographic, for one.

Like Carrie and Corin of Sleater Kinney.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

A more interesting question would be how did musicians by genre vote in the primary? Indie rockers are a solidly Sanders demographic, for one.

Like Carrie and Corin of Sleater Kinney.

And Eddie Vedder.

[Samof94]

A more interesting question would be how did musicians by genre vote in the primary? Indie rockers are a solidly Sanders demographic, for one.

Like Carrie and Corin of Sleater Kinney.

And Eddie Vedder.

True. This also applied to non Americans like Lauren Mayberry or Tegan and Sara.

[pbrower2a]

Folk -- Biden, by a landslide.

[Asta]

Metalheads would not vote for Trump lmfao. There's a conservative minority but on the whole they tend to be a very Atheistic subculture and that alone cuts against it.

That may be so, but at the same time, most metalheads from what I've seen tend to be white men. I rarely come across minorities that are metalheads. At least this seems to suggest that metalheads are in Trump's column.

Besides, this is about musicians, not listeners. Metal musicians at least in my imagination tend to show more of macho personality. I definitely think there is some truth that people with macho personality tend to be drawn to Trump.

It's tough to know since metal musicians usually don't make the mainstream news. Other than country, I would not be surprised if this was Trump's second best genre though.

[Suburbia]

Don't believe they can vote in US, but Van Morrison and Eric Clapton have both done songs this year protesting lockdowns so guessing those two were rooting for Trump (even though in UK Trump pretty hated).

Clapton certainly would have endorsed Trump if his infamous drunken endorsement of Enoch Powell were any indication (he's apologized for it but not quite made it clear if he still stands by any of it).

Yes, I think Clapton is a right winger. He would support Brexit, Trump and Boris or Farage. Dame Joan Collins too.

[Real Texan Politics]

Judging by the recent Carrie Underwood controversy where she liked a tweet from Matt Walsh, might be safe to say she's not a democrat? Or maybe an anti-mask mandate independent?

Oddly enough Johnny Rotten actually supported Trump, which you wouldn't expect from a punk rocker who's band called the queen a fascist.

Also despite the rest of the band being democrats, John Dolmayan from System of a Down supported Trump, though still seems to be friendly with his bandmates.

[Builder Refused]

Noise - write-ins
Industrial - Trump
Techno - Biden

Which Industrial bands would you think voted Trump? Having been a fan of the genre, I'm hard-pressed to think of one.  Definitely not Ministry, KMFDM, and anyone from the old Wax Trax days (if any of KMFDM still vote in US elections).

Nurse with Wound, Whitehouse, throbbing gristle and the early ones always had an Ur-fascist vibe. Later acts like death in june and current 93 also had very right wing symbolism. I don’t really consider Ministry with the industrial crowd. More metallisch

Hell you had an entire sub genre of militaristic Martial Industrial

I think a lot of right wing symbolism is Poe's Law. There's are definitely unmistakably Nazi bands in punk, industrial, metal, and folk but bands like Joy Division mostly use the imagery of references to create a depressive misanthropic atmosphere, being that it's one of the worst things to ever happen.  At any rate though, I think any stereotype of a Trump voting genre is sort of surface level. I'd guess there's a spattering of outsider artists like John Maus and Ariel Pink in any genre with broken brains, egomania, and entitlement. And my guess is that frontmen and singers are much more likely to support Trump or at least that conservative members are more likely to be token libertarian individualist edgelords: take Johnny Rotten, Morrissey, Eric Clapton. Even then I'd say these genre's are overrepresented amongst third party and nonvoters

[Kleine Scheiße]

Country fans LOVE brock pierce

[RINO Tom]

I’m actually not convinced Trump won country musicians by a landslide. Country fans, yes. But Trump lost Davidson County/Nashville worse than any candidate of either party since 1944. And there are a lot of country musicians who are known to have much more liberal views than you might expect based on their fanbases/style/lyrics. Nashville remains a pretty staunchly Democratic city, and the music industry there is no exception. It’s not LA or anything, but it’s not anywhere near as Republican as you might think.

Frankly I think Biden pretty soundly won musicians as a whole, regardless of genre. There’s a reason it’s rare to find a truly conservative musician/actor/artist of any kind. It is not a field that attracts a conservative mindset as a general rule. And classic rock is a particularly bizarre one to say would be Trump voters. Almost every classic rock musician I can think of, from Neil Young to Bob Dylan, was left-wing back in the day and remains that way now. Hell, Young became a US citizen just to vote against Trump.

I agree with your overall point - several famous artists from Tim McGraw to Toby Keith have proudly identified as “old school” Democrats at least once publicly - but I’d literally bet that country musicians living in Nashville vote to the right of the city.

[Asta]

Judging by the recent Carrie Underwood controversy where she liked a tweet from Matt Walsh, might be safe to say she's not a democrat? Or maybe an anti-mask mandate independent?

Oddly enough Johnny Rotten actually supported Trump, which you wouldn't expect from a punk rocker who's band called the queen a fascist.

Also despite the rest of the band being democrats, John Dolmayan from System of a Down supported Trump, though still seems to be friendly with his bandmates.

She comes from Baptist background and has never shown signs of leaving her religion so she is unlikely to be a Democrat.

However, she is a vegetarian, an advocate of PETA and supported same sex marriage. Regarding the latter, she is not even a "you do you" advocate but literally "Love Wins" advocate. She is more likely to be a non-Trump Republican or even libertarian.

[Kleine Scheiße]

for the record bob dylan did say that he liked barry goldwater but because he reminded him of tom mix and had a penchant for "country fair politics"

i would call bob a traditionalist, possibly a conservative, but not a reactionary; bob dylan is not an ideological guy

[VPH]

Most country stars probably voted Trump, and a good number of them are vocal about doing so (Justin Moore, Jason Aldean, Travis Tritt, Kenny Rodgers, Brad Paisley). A few stars are open Democrats (Willie Nelson, Kacey Musgraves, Brothers Osborne, Maren Morris, Tim McGraw once described himself as a Blue Dog Democrat). If I had to guess though, a quiet yet large group probably went for Biden. For example, singers might approach a political topic here or there in songs but not say anything on the record about elections. Some of that group were probably Trump backers (if I had to guess, Morgan Wallen is a good example), but I'll bet others were for Biden (Kane Brown).

In terms of rap, mostly Democratic but there were some high-profile Trump supporters in 2020. Lil Wayne, Lil Pump, 50 Cent among others.

[Klobmentum Mutilated Herself]

What is progressive rock? Is that like progressive house?

Ignore BRTD. There is a genre called progressive rock, and it kicks arse.

You know how rock songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, Stairway to Heaven, and Revolution 9 really stand out because nothing else you hear sounds like those? Imagine if those songs were the standard for the genre, and tame examples at that. That's progressive rock, also known as prog rock or just prog.

The official definition would be rock music that's rooted in classical music and/or jazz rather than blues. Lots of long songs (frequently exceeding twenty minutes), unusual time signatures, complex and virtuous and extended instrumentals, concept albums and songs with plots, emphasis on keyboards, instruments not typically used in rock, often rejecting verse-chrous structures.

King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, ELP, Frank Zappa, Rush, Van der Graaf Generator, Camel, Soft Machine, Renaissance, and Gentle Giant are some of the golden age prog bands. Depending on who you ask, Pink Floyd counts too; if you want to start a flame war on any prog site, take a hard stance on whether or not Floyd is prog.

Some notable modern prog bands, often opting for a more prog metal sound, are Marillion, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Spock's Beard, Devin Townsend, Fates Warning, Flower Kings, Pain of Salvation, and Haken. TOOL and Radiohead are the modern successors to Pink Floyd in that nobody agrees whether or not they're prog and you're sure to start a flame war by asserting one position or the other.