Metal guitarist Gary Holt is under fire from Beyoncé fans
When a metal artist called Beyoncé “overrated” and praised Taylor Swift as the better composer, Beyoncé’s fans lost it.
Earlier this month, during an appearance on the Scandalous Podcast, longtime guitarist and songwriter for the thrash metal band Exodus, Gary Holt, gave Beyoncé a negative review.
The 60-year-old musician referred to the singer, who just released a Cowboy Carter album in which she dabbled with country music, as just having “marginal” skill. He even took issue with the praise that her daughter Blue Ivy has been receiving.
One of Holt’s main grievances with Beyoncé was that, in his opinion, she wasn’t qualified to be called a songwriter because so many of her songs had long credits to other people.
“Beyoncé is going to release a song with thirty f***ing people on it.” How can a group of thirty persons collaborate to write a song? He remarked, “It seems like you’re not a songwriter, Beyoncé.”
He used the analogy that Taylor “writes everything,” in contrast to that.
I therefore give her credit. She writes songs. And some of these other people need large teams to handle them.
Swift often collaborates with just one co-writer, despite the fact that the majority of her songs have many writers listed.
On the other hand, Beyoncé typically credits a lot more writers on her songs. For example, 13 writers are featured on Cowboy Carter’s opening single, American Requiem.
The statistics were even more inflated on her Renaissance album, where the song Alien Superstar was credited to an astounding 24 writers.
But Beyoncé frequently incorporates samples from other works into her own songs, and the songwriters are given credit for those as well. Many of the writers credited with penning her sample-heavy songs have never collaborated with Beyoncé, in actuality.
Not content to just criticize Beyoncé, Holt also hinted that Blue Ivy’s writing credit on Brown Skin Girl might not have come from any noteworthy contributions.
Thanks to her composition credit, she went on to win the Grammy for Best Music Video in 2021, becoming the second-youngest artist to do so.
He remarked, “I mean, her daughter probably threw some f***ing kindergarten rhyme on one line and yup, give her a Grammy and a songwriting credit.”
Holt had earlier in the talk mentioned some of his favorite pop artists, including Madonna and early Katy Perry, but he saved the best praise for the late Prince.
He remarked, “I mean, her daughter probably threw some f***ing kindergarten rhyme on one line and yup, give her a Grammy and a songwriting credit.”
Holt had earlier in the talk mentioned some of his favorite pop artists, including Madonna and early Katy Perry, but he saved the best praise for the late Prince.
“You know who the greatest artist of all time is, Prince, my hero.” He said, “There won’t be another one like him.”
Holt poked fun at Blue Ivy’s achievements while praising the great artist.
“Now that Blue Ivy has one-seventh of Prince’s Grammys—the greatest artist that has ever been or will ever be—in her possession,” he fumed.
Although Holt expressed his dislike for Beyoncé’s accolades, he was far more impressed by Taylor Swift’s abilities.
‘Taylor Swift is amazing. Why is there so much hate? She works so hard,” he remarked. It’s because of her extreme kindness that many despise her. More power to her; she’s simply the world’s biggest pop star. These tunes appeal to me. I adore pop.
He didn’t believe that the Shake It Off singer was a product of a “factory of songwriting,” in contrast to Beyoncé.
Taylor is a prolific writer. I thus give her credit,” Holt said. She writes songs. And some of these other people need large teams to handle them.
“She’s a good person,” he continued, before making it clear that he was unfamiliar with Swift.
Beyoncé’s supporters on X (formerly Twitter) weren’t having any of it, with some comments asserting that Holt’s criticism of her and admiration for Swift were motivated by racism.
A supporter of Beyoncé said, “mighty white of him.”
‘So basically he’s racist,’ wrote someone else, who was even more direct. I get it now!
Some criticized Holt, who is also the guitarist for the legendary thrash metal group Slayer, for not being noteworthy in their eyes.
One fan mockingly commented, “I’m sure Beyoncé woke up today thinking, “How does Gary Holt rank my career?”
Another said to Holt, rather simply, ‘Who?’
One fan speculated that the rock star might have been merely attempting to stir things up or start a debate.
They wrote, “Not even he believes that.”
