Joni Mitchell Joins Neil Young In Leaving Spotify

Legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is following Neil Young’s lead to remove her music from Spotify in support of the protest against controversial podcast The Joe Rogan Experience over vaccine misinformation.

The Canadian musician wrote in a statement posted on her website Friday:

“Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”

Following Young’s letter in Wednesday:

“I truly want to thank the many, many people who have reached out to me thanking me for taking this position — people who are health professionals on the front lines, people who have lost loved ones to COVID or who are worried for their own children and families. I have never felt so much love coming from so many. I sincerely hope that other artists and record companies will move off the Spotify platform and stop supporting Spotify’s deadly misinformation about COVID.”

After the statement, many fellow musicians have voiced their support for Young on the issue, including Sebastian Bach, David Crosby, and Nils Lofgren of the E Street Band and Young’s Crazy Horse backup group who also want his catalog deleted on the streaming platform.

On Saturday, Lofgren wrote on the Neil Young Archives:

“We’ve now gotten the last 27 years of my music taken off Spotify. We are reaching out to the labels that own my earlier music to have it removed as well. We sincerely hope they honor our wishes, as Neil’s labels have done. We encourage all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere to stand with us all, and cut ties with Spotify.”