During a recent appearance on the “Scandalous Podcast,” SLAYER and EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt revealed he’s a big fan of pop music. In an interview, Holt even named Taylor Swift as one of his favorite artists.
Gary said (as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar): “I love Taylor Swift. Why all the hate? She’s an extraordinarily hard worker. She’s super f**king nice to everybody, and people hate her. She’s just the biggest pop star on Earth, and more power to her. I like the songs. I love pop. I listen to pop mostly in the car, you know, I don’t listen to metal [while driving]. I just recently started exploring my Sirius subscription [laughs]. Okay, you know, there’s some heavy s**t on here, but I’d rather listen to George Michael myself.”
Holt compared Swift to Beyoncé, commending the younger pop star for independently writing all of her music.
“Beyoncé will put out a song and there’s 30 f**king people on it. How can 30 people write a song, all gathered together? It’s like, you’re not a song, right? Beyoncé… some of these other people require massive teams. It’s just like a factory of songwriting,” Holt explained. “Who even knows who did what anymore, when there are like 20 names on it… I don’t know, but yeah, I got no hate for Taylor.
“She’s a good person on top of anything else, not that I know her, but hey, she tipped off the truck drivers 100 grand… Beyoncé, what are you tipping your drivers? Probably nothing. I don’t know. Maybe she’s super generous. I think Beyonce is the most overrated talent on Earth. I think she’s marginally talented.”
“I’m not a Swiftie, but when ‘Trouble’ comes on the radio, I don’t change it,” Holt added. “It’s alright. I like it. I like pop music. Always have, though, even back in the Bonded by Blood era. I’d be out on tour with VENOM, and I’d be drunk at the bar, singing every word to Madonna‘s ‘Angel’. And Cronos was shaking his head, like, ‘What’s wrong with this guy?’ But I’ve always liked pop music.”
After concluding their last world tour in November 2019, SLAYER, featuring Tom Araya (bass, vocals), Kerry King (guitar), Gary Holt (guitar), and Paul Bostaph (drums), will headline three prominent festivals, Riot Fest, Louder Than Life and Aftershock Festival, marking their first live appearances since then.
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