Donald Trump’s First Year: How Rockers Have Reacted
It's been one year since Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States. Many rockers were upset with Trump's election, while others remained steadfastly by his side.
Much of the criticism leveled at Trump from musicians centered on his immigration policies – especially his plan to build a wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico – and/or an alleged embrace of white supremacist groups. And it hasn't all come from typically liberal voices. The former has resulted in traditionally apolitical rockers from Metallica's Lars Ulrich to Billy Joel to express their concerns, while the latter caused Dee Snider (who had developed a friendship with Trump on Celebrity Apprentice) to publicly break with the president.
Elsewhere, Trump could count on staunch support. Ted Nugent, rock's most outspokenly staunch conservative, backed Trump early in his campaign and then made a visit to the White House. Meat Loaf remained a fan. Jonathan Cain's wife is a televangelist who serves as the chair of Trump's evangelical advisory board; he and two other members of Journey also met with the president, causing a very public rift in the band.
At the same time, decisions to roll back environmental regulations and pull out of the Paris climate accord earned the wrath of Kirk Hammett and Nikki Sixx, while Roger Waters and Axl Rose have taken exception to the overall tone coming out of the White House. Meanwhile, Todd Rundgren and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan collaborated on an anti-Trump song that wound up on Rundgren's most recent album.
Here's a look back.