James Blunt ‘Threatens’ To Release New Music Onto Spotify, Joins Protest Vs. Joe Rogan Covid-19 Claims

Which one would be the bigger concern for Spotify? No music on its platform from Neil Young and Joni Mitchell? Or more music from James Blunt?

As I covered for Forbes on January 14, over 270 doctors, scientists and other health professionals have signed an “Open Letter to Spotify” stating that “throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine.” This petition called “on Spotify to immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform.” Of course, these days, it’s not clear how many politicians and businesses may actually listen to real scientists and science.

Well, this past week, at least three prominent members of the music industry have decided to take action and lend their voices to support science. First, Young asked Spotify to remove his songs from their platform because the Spotify podcast The Joe Rogan Experience was “spreading false information about vaccines,” as Zachary Snowdon Smith reported for Forbes.

Then, on January 28, Mitchell posted the following statement on her website: “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. 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.” Her website also now includes a copy of the “Open Letter to Spotify.”

But the real bombshell dropped on January 29, coming in the form of the following Blunt warning:

Uh oh. Blunt threatening to release new music? Now that’s a threat to take seriously.

As you can see, the British artist included the hashtag #youwerebeautiful, which undoubtedly referred to his hit song, “You're Beautiful.” If you recall, in 2005, radio stations played this song basically until your ears bled. The song first became a big hit in the U.K. and then spread throughout Europe. Soon the song made its way to the U.S. where it reached the Top 10 for the following four categories: Adult Contemporary Music, Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks, Adult Album Alternative, and “yes, we get it, she’s beautiful.”

While some songs may be earworms, this one was an ear snake. Or maybe an ear python. There was nothing like sitting in a public restroom stall and looking at the toilet paper roll while the lyrics, “You're beautiful, it's true,” kept ringing in your head. In 2006, the song reached the summit of the entire Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first British song in nine years to achieve number one status since Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997.” That same year Weird Al Yankovic released a parody of the song entitled “You're Pitiful.” And you know your song has hit the big time when Weird Al has decided to parody it. With all that airplay plus a parody, “You're Beautiful” stuck around years after its release, kind of like peanut butter up one’s nose.

And now, could “You're Beautiful” be featured in Blunt’s upcoming “Greatest Hit Tour,” as he indicated on Twitter:

Notice his use of the word “hit” without an “s” and the phrase “and only this song” in his tweet. Hmm, would a concert with the same song being played over and over again leave you needing a Blunt. so to speak? Regardless, if you’re worried about getting Covid-19 by attending his concerts, social distancing may not be problem on his tour, if you were to believe another tweet from Blunt:

Of course, there is the chance that Blunt may have been joking about his threat to release new music on Spotify and his suggestions that he has only one fan and will be playing only one song on his tour. Chances are Blunt has at least two fans, assuming that his wife likes his music as well. So don’t hold your breath anticipating the release of “You’re Still Beautiful”, “Actually, You’re Not That Beautiful”, “The Lighting May Have Been Off”, “The you’re beautiful song said that I've got a plan, but it has taken over a decade and a half to execute this plan” or some other new Blunt song on to the Spotify platform in retaliation. Blunt does have a history of self-deprecating humor on Twitter that’s attracted over 2.1 million followers.

Plus, he has made other songs besides “You’re Beautiful” and has done a range of other things. For example, he’s helped raise money for Help for Heroes (which assists wounded British servicemen), Médecins Sans Frontières, and various environmental causes.

Moreover, “You’re Beautiful” is not the worst song in the world. In fact, it’s got a catchy melody. The lyrics speak to anyone who’s suffered through unrequited love. And the following video answered the key questions that kept millions previously wondering: what exactly does Blunt keep in his pockets? And why not take off your shirt and shoes but not your pants before going swimming:

There is something beautiful about musicians and other artists using their platforms to voice support for real science and scientists. It’s true. During the pandemic with so much misinformation flying around and many faux experts spouting off unfounded Covid-19 claims, real Covid-19 experts have, in the adapted words of “You're Beautiful,” found their faces in a crowded place. And they haven’t known what to do. It can be quite frustrating seeing people die and suffer unnecessarily when they don’t follow evidence-based Covid-19 precautions just because others are spewing misinformation for their own agendas.

So in light of this, many in the Twittersphere did feel that Blunt’s tweet was “brilliant,” to borrow the first line of the “You're Beautiful” song. The tweet has received responses such as the following:

Of course, some responses pointed to Rogan’s popularity such as this tweet from, surprise, surprise, an anonymous Twitter account:

Umm. As high school has proven, popularity doesn’t necessarily mean accuracy or reliability. Plus, isn’t saying “hit Google and educate myself” a bit like saying, “I’m going to see what everyone is saying about something and then choose the most popular thing or the thing I can find first?”

Some other responses from anonymous Twitter accounts claimed that Rogan has been bringing “world leading experts” on to his podcast:

But, as you can see, responses to these responses questioned whether the guests on The Joe Rogan Experience have actually been legitimate “world leading experts” versus people pushing a certain narrative.

It remains to be seen how Spotify will respond to the request “to immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform” and the statements from Young, Mitchell, and Blunt. Keep in mind that there’s a big difference between providing entertainment and health information. If you were to sing about some hot person smiling at you on a subway when it wasn’t really a smile but a look of disgust, no one will really get hurt by such inaccurate information. However, inaccurate health information is a different story. Telling people to not take a deadly virus as seriously as they should or to avoid evidence-based Covid-19 precautions, could end up hurting a lot of people. It’s true.