Eric Clapton cheerleads the anti-vax resisters

Eric Clapton cheerleads the anti-vax resisters

News

norman lebrecht

July 23, 2021

The veteran rock musician says he will boycott concert halls and clubs that require audiences to show proof of vaccination.

Clapton, 76, is a noted medical authority and humanitarian.

His statement reads: ‘Unless there is provision made for all people to attend, I reserve the right to cancel the show.’

He is due to appear at the Royal Albert Hall, which requires proof of vaccination, in May 2022.

Comments

  • Hayne says:

    Norman,
    Why don’t you tell the full story on what happened to Eric Clapton when he took the vaccine?

    https://undercurrents723949620.wordpress.com/2021/06/22/eric-clapton-details-his-vaccine-injury/

    • Rustier spoon. says:

      Interesting article. Poor bloke.

    • AMP says:

      What he SAID happened to him after the vaccine, there is no proof and he has a history of being full of s**t.

    • A Clapton-Fan says:

      It’s only his word, hearsay evidence, & NO proof WHATSOEVER to demonstrably establish any direct link between the symptoms & supposed side-effects he alleges he experienced to the vaccine he states he had. Most strange that nobody else seems to have suffered said symptoms????

    • Foel says:

      I will definitely trust a WordPress called undercurrents723949620 … what’s the number for? Some Nigerian prince’s home phone?

    • Karl says:

      Also people should know that the vaccine can kill too. Seven people have died from unusual blood clots after getting the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK

      • Harpist says:

        Sure – some people have died, though that is mostly AZ or JJ, not RNA vaccines. But how about opposing that to how many have died without the vaccine from COVID? Its 2.4 million. So 7 versus 4,156,725.

      • Tally says:

        I’d worry about that it if it weren’t merely a handful cases in millions

    • Belfastjohn says:

      Judy Mikovits, Ph.D.is a bit of a nutter……
      So why should we believe anything she says given her background
      Clapton is a well known drug addict with preexisting nerve damage and health conditions due to alcohol abuse………
      People with a similar age but different lifestyle….Cliff Richard , Tom jones, Michael Caine for example have not taken “sick”

    • Will Wilkin says:

      Thank you Hayne, for posting that link. The story of his adverse reactions to the vaccine (and his pre-existing conditions that were thereby aggravated) are essential context for understanding why Mr. Clapton has spoken publicly against the “coercive” aspects of the vaccination campaigns and the economic shutdowns. I’m dismayed at how politicization has dumbed down the discussion so that agendas become filters of relevant facts that inconvenient to the agenda of whoever is speaking or writing on the topic. Eric Clapton also spoke of that difficulty, of the human dilemma of taking an unpopular position and risking alienation from family, friends and, in the case of a famous person such as a guitar god, the public. I am NOT an antivaxer but I am disappointed in the news media being so propagandistic and short on facts, basically cherry-picking to suit a policy agenda that I agree with yet wonder what I’d think if I had more complete information.

    • NotADumbAntiVaxxer says:

      Eric Clapton openly complained of peripheral neuropathy (pain, burning, numbness and tingling) in his hands over FIVE YEARS AGO (see attached article from 2016). None of his ailments are new, and well before Covid he gave interviews where he said his problems were getting worse. Clapton is an anti-vaxxer, anti-gov’t, and a racist. He’ll say anything to support his vile beliefs. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/13/eric-clapton-reveals-nerve-damage-that-makes-playing-guitar-hard-work/

    • Roger McGoon says:

      He’s describing neuropathy, which is a consequence of ALCOHOLISM. But sure, blame the vaccine. Fuck him.

    • Roger McGoon says:

      Nice try. According to the Mayo Clinic, the main cause of peripheral neuropathy is ALCOHOLISM, and Clapton is a recovering heroin addict (which likely also bars him from being prescribed many effective pain killers) and alcoholic. But go ahead and blame the vaccine…piss off, Slowbrain.

    • Bully boy says:

      Hard to pay attention to a rip off artist who let his kid die.

  • Gustavo says:

    So he will never make it to Wahnfried.

  • Patrick says:

    Let him cancel. Small loss.

  • Morgan says:

    A nice sardonic note: “Clapton, 76, is a noted medical authority and humanitarian.”

    • Thomas Glass says:

      His own experience with the vaccine was nearly fatal what was yours like?

      • CJ says:

        Well, nearly no reaction both times, nothing serious compared to what the more than 4000000 deads from Covid had to suffer.

      • Coinneach Shanks says:

        Fine

      • Minnesota says:

        Clapton’s experience with the vaccine was unpleasant but not really “nearly fatal.” My own experience with it was no real symptoms. My wife was achy after the second shot, stayed in bed one day, and then fine. We are both in Clapton’s age group.

      • mike gard says:

        Probably because he had a needle sticking out of his arm for most of his life. Tosser.

      • Bill says:

        Almost fatal? How so? No report of clotting disorders, no report of anaphylactic shock. Neuropathy is definitely unpleasant, perhaps even debilitating in some cases, but it is not “almost fatal.”

        • Tally says:

          And the neuropathy was an existing disorder for him, making it likely he was just falsely attributing his existing condition to the vaccine.

    • Hayne says:

      Yeah, like Dr. Bill Gates:)

    • Jimmie says:

      He got his medical degree in the same place Bill Gates got his.

  • Stas says:

    No questions as to where the mountains of cocaine he blasted up his nose came from, but plenty of scepticism regarding a vaccine to protect one from serious illness, and possibly death, via virus.

    • Konrad says:

      And no questions about all the heroin Clapton shot up his arm, during the years he was an addict? So he had serious side effects from the vaccine,…. did it prevent him from getting Covid-19??? Eric, you are being quite the hypocrite on this matter.

    • Rp says:

      Cadascú tria el que es vol prendre. I respecto i coincideixo amb ell amb l’excepticisme per la vacuna.

      • Tiredofitall says:

        Un altre idiota per al club.

      • Le Křenek du jour says:

        Rp:

        Si parles d’heroïna, sí.
        Si estàs parlant de la vacuna, no.
        En una pandèmia, no és cada home per si mateix.
        Estem en això tots junts. El meu comportament impacta en la teva salut.
        El teu comportament impacta en el meu. Els efectes s’estan esquinçant.

        And since not everyone reads Catalan, now in English for all:
        If you’re talking about heroin, yes.
        If you’re talking about the vaccine, no.
        In a pandemic, it’s not every man for himself.
        We’re in this all together. My behavior impacts your health.
        Your behavior impacts mine. The effects are rippling.

      • CJ says:

        Which means??

    • Tony says:

      Haha. Slow hand, and a slow brain. Clapton is finding new ways to bore everyone. For a rich rock star to undermine the vaccination effort is repulsive. Hey Eric, do us all a favor and cancel all of your shows. What an asshole.

      • Anthony Sayer says:

        He also speaks very highly of you.

      • Tony'sPizza says:

        Do us all a favor and cancel your self Tony. You ain’t done nothin’ for humanity.

      • Brad Bradley says:

        Um….
        If you had suffered the serious reactions that he did you’d be just as adamantly against these experimental vaccines also.
        There’s been way to many reactions and even deaths that have been traced to them so I refuse to be coerced into taking the jab

    • V Lind says:

      He wasn’t sceptical. he had both jabs.

    • Brad Bradley says:

      Do you even know the full story of why he’s anti-Covid vaccine..?
      He suffered a major reaction which left his arms and hands numb amongst some other very serious adverse effects.

  • I was surprised he took it. Spike protein finds the weakest links.

  • David says:

    Cheap shot and repugnant. Clapton is a known racist (google it) and an idiot, but a tragic accident is an accident. You’re worse than him.

  • Thomas J Glass says:

    Good for Eric bravo

  • David Leibowitz says:

    Better than being dead.

  • John Billingham says:

    If there are no provision for the safety of everyone who wants to go. It should be cancelled and the spot given to an artist who is in the real world. He’s lost the plot. I’ve followed him since his yardbird days. I’m 73 and on imunosuppresents. I can’t afford to take the risk.

  • Sick of the spoiled says:

    Right, 20 years of shoving needles in your arm and poisoning your body with heroin bought on the street: thats ok.

    One bad reaction to a vaccine: takes moral stand against drugs.

    Just another undeserving spoiled rich dude. Pack him in a rocket with Bezos and that other “richard” and send them out.

    • Hayne says:

      Envy is one of the 7 deadly sins…

      • Tiredofitall says:

        I don’t think many of us are envious of Mr. Clapton nor his lifetime of addiction. Clapton’s not on any moral high ground.

      • Amos says:

        So is the misinformation stupidity you spread with the consequence that people become ill and might die. Hundreds of millions of people of diverse genetic backgrounds receive the COVID-vaccine and are protected but the anecdotal account of one 76 year old with a lifetime of drug and alcohol abuse is what you choose to trumpet. You are pushing a treatment known to induce life threatening cardiac events in large numbers but vaccines that save lives are to be avoided. Hope the bit coin keeps rolling in.

    • V Lind says:

      He conquered the addiction — more than 50 years ago — and has devoted a great portion of the rest of his life, as well as a good deal of his fortune, on trying to help other addicts.

  • Al Gorelioni says:

    Some of us believe in freedom and liberty.

    • AstorEd says:

      you don’t have the right to infect others with a highly contagious and deadly pathogen.

      • Saxon says:

        Er…more accurate is that it is mildly contagious (and R between 2 and 3) and mildly dangerous.

        In the end, we are going to have to live with the virus, with those in higher risk groups encouraged to get regularly re-vaccinated. The rest of us will just get on with life.

    • Mather Pfeiffenberger says:

      What about responsibility to the larger community and society?

  • Minnesota says:

    Clapton seems to have had as problem assessing risk through much of his life.

  • Anthony Sayer says:

    Good for him. Shame one has to search around blogs to find anyone speaking out against the appalling manipulation that is the official Covid-19 response.

    • V Lind says:

      “Clapton believes more people aren’t speaking out because of fear of reprisal if they go against the official narrative.”

      Ain’t that the truth these days. Ask J.K. Rowling. Ask Laurence Fox. Ask university lecturers who are told by their departments that they are not to allow free debate in their classrooms lest someone get offended.

      I’m not endorsing Clapton’s views — the freedom of choice he advocates may risk my health, if I were disposed to attend his concerts. But I have no objection to his entering the debate. His own experience — possibly, indeed, as pointed out above, exacerbated by his own earlier abuses of other drugs — raises issues with him. He’s entitled to express them.

  • M McAlpine says:

    ‘In his autobiography Clapton, the guitar god stated that he spent roughly $16,000 a week on heroin. Rather than seeking drug addiction treatment, he was often confined to his home.’
    Might this just have had an effect on his immune system too? Perhaps you might have mentioned this in your report.

  • Couperin says:

    Bad parent too.

    • V Lind says:

      Unparented. He’s no saint, granted, but he had a tough start in life. He made all the epic , tedious rock and roll mistakes, but this is someone who appears to have genuinely learned from them and dedicated much of the rest of his life to helping those who made the same ones. It is for this work, not his music, that he was awarded the CBE.

    • henry williams says:

      where was his child’.s mother.
      when the baby fell out the window.
      and died..the baby was looked after by somebody that did not know English.

    • Chris says:

      how would you know what type of parent he is.

  • Gary says:

    I am 73, a member of the peace and love generation. Also revolution and a lot of musicians sang about it. Where are all these guys now, following like sheep to this scamdemic. Horray for Clapton and Van Morrison for speaking out.

    • Linda Man says:

      Yes Horray for Clapton❤

    • Dan m. says:

      Bet you ate lots of shit came your way, back in the day for a thrill. Guess times have changed. They only bummer is its not just you, concerning your decision to not take the vaccine. Can you imagine if people did this during the polio vaccine. We would still have thousands of people spreading the disease around. Freedom sometimes comes with responsability.
      Which i assume you already know, if youve been awake as long as me. I am a child of the 60s myself. Just sharing.
      No judgement here

    • Henrik Dahlsjo says:

      Your comment reads like a bad parody. Pathetic.

    • Johnbelfast says:

      Yeah ..Grumpy old man
      Medical expert and general recluse
      Spent all of the pandemic hiding in a 6 star hotel refusing to make physical contact with anyone. Food left outside his door, sending taxies out to his shopping and insisting everything disinfected before sent to his room and then ranting, sorry , singing about how empty the streets are

    • Couperin says:

      People like you, Clapton, and Van Morrison just prove that the so-called peace and love hippy generation was a crock of shit, a mirage. Now that we can see how selfish and entitled the Boomers have been, it makes perfect sense that many are being completely ignorant about covid and vaccines. And anyway, it’s a richly layered slice of hypocrisy from Clapton, a man whose career is built on idolizing black musicians, stealing and imitating the blues, and repackaging it for mostly late-middle-aged white people. Everyone remember Clapton’s racist rant in ’76, calling for the removal of non-whites from Britain? But now he’s defending the non-vaccinated? What a pretentious twat!

  • RW says:

    I see Cancel Culture in full swing attacking anyone who dares to question the government vaccine. If you buy the propaganda then everyone that is vaccinated should not worry about those who refuse it. Oh wait, Britain is reporting 40-60 percent of new Covid cases are in those fully vaccinated. Keep drinking the Koolaid right up to the Mark of the Beast. It’s not about health it’s about Compliance….

    • nimitta says:

      RW: “I see Cancel Culture in full swing attacking anyone who dares to question the government vaccine.”

      Alas, RW, you don’t see that Covid-19 is the far more dangerous Cancel Culture, having killed over 4 million and infected another 194 million, many of whom are facing longterm issues such as pulmonary fibrosis, organ damage, and neural impairment.

      I see Covid Cancellation in full swing, too…among the unvaccinated – 99.5% of cases in Texas, f’example. Guess it IS about health after all.

  • Rufus says:

    If Eric isn’t shooting himself in the arm, he’s shooting himself in the foot.

  • Jeff_Cameron says:

    Lab rats need to convince themselves they are not guinea pigs in a lab experiment so they attack Clapton. From Fauci’s e-mails we learned: 1- Covid came from a lab; 2- There’s no asymptomatic spread; 3- Face masks do not work; 4- No lockdowns were necessary; 5- Covid death numbers were greatly exaggerated to increase fear and isolation; 6- Fauci lied to Congress several times under oath about gain-of-function research at Wuhan; 7- The “pandemic” was about forcing the population to take the gene-editing, traceable nano-chip injection disguised as vaccine from the very beginning. Yes, you’ve been conned. Don’t blame Clapton, thank him instead.

  • marcus says:

    Does this mean Clapton will insist on only playing to people who can prove they have not been vaccinated?

  • Willie says:

    An opinion is like an arsehole, everybody’s got one.

  • Andrew says:

    Well done Eric Clapton for opposing medical apartheid and the new tyranny.

  • Swithen says:

    Good on ya Mr. Clapton. We have to ignore all the sheep blindly following the CDC bullshite. I’m not getting this poison pumped into my veins, for a virus that’s over 99% survivable. I like my DNA just the way it is, thank you.

  • Helen Wynn says:

    So a new study by the esteemed University of Hawaii says that Hawaii will experience an increasing number of Covid postives in the next few months of which two-thirds will be from unvaccinated but an astounding one-third will be from the VACCINATED. This does not bode well for the efficacy of the vaccine. BTW, I am vaccinated and happy to be—very happy to be part of the community effort to get this pandemic under control. But you can see that the vaccine is not a panacea, at least here in paradise. Aloha!

  • Erica Siegel Raine says:

    I am disappointed. I am sad that Eric Clapton had a negative and severe reaction to Covid vaccine. I am sad that his health is deteriorating and he is in pain. A tiny percentage of people will have severe side effects. Who knows what damage EC caused his body through years of addiction…EC might have died if he had been infected with COVID-19. EC should share his experience, so that people consider the risks vs the benefits based on the science and their own health issues.

    Perhaps, he can choose to admit ONLY the unvaccinated to his concerts.

    People who ARE vaccinated are at less risk infection and severe
    illness, but we have a small chance of being infected by the unvaccinated and a much higher chance of infecting children who are too young for vaccination and do have some chance of becoming seriously ill.

    The unvaccinated place others at increased risk especially as the virus mutates. In fact, the unvaccinated are responsible for the virus mutation that endangers everyone, both the unvaccinated and the vaccinated. I am concerned about everyone’s future.

    My freedom is limited and l choose to continue all precautions, because l have no way of knowing who IS unvaccinated and it is likely they are not taking precautions. I can only have contact with people l trust are vaccinated if l want to protect my young grandchildren who are unvaccinated. It is complicated.

    If there is a scientific concensus on the necessity of a booster and he if he chooses not to have one, will EV care enough about others to self-isolate?

    Perhaps EC can give up playing at live concerts and play virtual concerts
    by subscription, if he needs the money.

    I know this must be a difficult time for him as his remaining time playing publically is limited given progressive neuropathy.

    Aging and having chronic illness is tough for everyone. Many of us find alternative ways to have a meaningful lives. I hope EC will find a meaningful path.

  • Elise says:

    So many mean comments here. Eric Vlapton is standing up of individual rights. This vaccine is not a one size fits all. I stand with freedom.

  • mike gard says:

    Stick to heroin Clapton you toe rag!

  • Alan H says:

    There is no bigger fan of EC than me I learned to play guitar because of him but perhaps his immune system is shot because all of the substances he’s abused his body with Nd in reality he should put an “old sock” in it

  • Phil Manning says:

    Attacking the messenger instead of the content of the message just reveals a weak mind, …..and Eric seem to have shaken a few of them from the tree. I admire his stance and defend his right to have his point of view whether right or wrong and whether you agree or not. Attacking his character is just piss weak!

  • Chris simmons says:

    “my body, my choice”. Amazing how the left who claims to be inclusive and nonjudgemental tries to force their beliefs on others in a discriminatory fashion. China lies. Fauci lied. Virus manufactured in lab. Just wash your damn hands and don’t go out when you feel sick like normal people should do anyway. Fear kills

  • Audrey Hatfield says:

    Some of you people are extremely pathetic with your trying to throw in the fact that he was previously using heroin. I applaud him for having the balls not to bow down to this bulls**t. Everyone should have choices, not be forced to take an experimental drug. Those of you that have taken the shots shouldn’t be worried about the people around you that don’t. If the shots work, quit worrying about what everybody else is doing around you. It’s his show, he can do whatever the hell he wants. Bravo!

    • V Lind says:

      No, he can’t do whatever he wants. None of us can, and that’s as it should be — certainly of you believe half of what gets said around here by a lot of fact-challenged people.

      He has expressed a view. One of the problems these days seems to be that that is becoming a hanging offence. Some here have argued against it, with equal right. But too many have just slagged off Clapton, who gave up drugs in 1970 — though he continued to drink, hard, a while longer.

      But he cleaned up his act. He founded a rehab centre, which he has worked for decades to fund, including auctioning off legendary guitars. He works for charity. He remarried late, and built a new family. He apologised for incendiary statements he made while still drinking hard.

      If people cannot accept someone who has admitted responsibility and attempted to atone for early mistakes through the useful, not just breast-beating, activity of working to help others, then I wonder who is the more decent.

  • Steve says:

    Proof of COVID vaccine must be accompanied by all records of communicable diseases. AIDS, hepatitis
    SDT’s, measles, mumps etc. inc common cold, let’s face it crowded places can spread so many really nasty things. Let’s just stay at home, shall we.

  • Robert Parr says:

    Good on Eric Clapton!
    At least he has the guts to speak the truth and not be kowtowed by this rapidly degenerating anti democracy that we are all living in. Wise up, it’s just the flu. More people died in 2019 than 2020 – fact.

  • Charlie says:

    Eric has always been a rebel. He hasn’t changed, the world has. Eric is from a world that says “question authority”. The new world says “don’t question authority, just obey”.

  • Grant cummings says:

    I’m a big fan of eric, because of his music,it’s great to listen to, but why do musicians, always decide to become guru’s of world matters,do what your good at ,and what wev paid for to put you where you are today,be content and be quiet, people in the real world have it much harder, but eric wouldn’t know that anyway

    • V Lind says:

      Whence came this notion that singers, or actors, or sports people are necessarily born without a brain in their heads? Or that they forsake their right to a point of view or to express it
      the minute they have a hit record or movie or hot a home run?

      Listened to the House of Commons lately?

  • Carlo Bragagnolo says:

    Congratulations Eric what has happened to your cohort of musicians who all have previously sung about civil rights, liberty and freedom

  • George M. says:

    Why are we talking about this on Slippeddisc? Last I heard Mr. Clapton is not an opera singer (thank GOD).

  • Alan Glick says:

    What has all this got to do with classical music?

  • Vickie Pleiss says:

    The point he is making is about choice. I’ve had covid. It wasn’t fun but I’m definitely not getting the vaccine, and I’m in my 60s. Not all Drs agree with the vaccine mandate…in fact there are many that believe that,, if you’ve had it,, you have the antibodies already.. in fact,, studies have shown that people who have had covid and still get the vaccine have 3 times the antibodies as others that are vaccinated, who have not had covid. If someone is high risk, it is their choice to stay home. Many HAVE died from the vaccine. People should get the vaccine if they feel they should, not because it’s mandated. His drug use in his past is beside the point…again, it was a choice. It’s to a point where it’s not enough to respect some else’s opinion…it’s now required to comply or you’re a pos…whatever the demand is!

  • Superfly says:

    How can he call himself a humanitarian when he has such a well documented history of racism?

  • OleHippieChick says:

    Anecdotal experience, really?

  • Ric says:

    Wonder if it occurred to Dr Clapton that if he got that sick from the vaccine… the virus would have smoked him.

    How’s THAT for a theory???

    Glad he wasn’t popular during poliovirus.

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