Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy: ‘Politics, Leave Me the F— Out’
In a series of tweets posted yesterday in response to stories about the anti-mask wearing hashtag posted on his Twitter account, Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy made it clear that he wants his politics and music kept separate.
"I only apologize for things that hurt my audience," read one message. "Politics leave me the fuck out, don’t be starting shit. Not into it. Not for press, not for nothing." Another comment makes his stance even clearer: "#nopoliticsinmusic #notintopolitics."
In addition, Sebastian Bach, who was among those criticizing Pearcy for apparently tweeting out the "UnMaskAmerica" hash tag, has reported via Twitter that the Ratt frontman reached out to him to say his account was hacked, and that Pearcy "never tweeted to unmask America." Pearcy's recent tweets, as well as our original, unedited story on the response to the tweet sent from his hacked Twitter account, can be found below.
Ratt's Stephen Pearcy has kicked off an '80s glam rock Twitter debate on mask-wearing.
Early this morning, the "Round and Round" singer posted a Tweet that was empty except for the hashtag #UnMaskAmerica. His message quickly drew critiques from Sebastian Bach and Cinderella's Fred Coury, but also earned the public support of the Bulletboys.
Former Skid Row singer Bach responded with his own hashtag, #PUTAFUCKINGMASKON, and Cinderella drummer Coury sarcastically asked if Pearcy's account was hacked, in a response that included a mask-wearing emoji. The Bulletboys were far more receptive, responding to Pearcy's tweet with emojis of agreement and another popular hashtag, #lionsnotsheep.
Later in the day, Pearcy humorously expanded on the theme, posting a photo of himself in a shiny, face-covering silver helmet. "Maybe if we all wear this mask we can all have peace. Or we can wait for the real guys to come down and straighten things out," he wrote, with an emoji that indicated he was talking about aliens. This didn't amuse Bach in the slightest. "Dude this shit is actually not funny," he responded. "Please stop embarrassing yourself and all of rock and roll."
As many states suffer dramatic increases in the number of people infected by and dying from the COVID-19 virus, health experts and many government officials have been strongly advocating for or even requiring people to cover their face with cloth masks while in public. They point out out that it greatly reduces the risk of the virus being spread, but some opponents feel these mandates are a violation of personal freedom, and fear that it could lead to other health problems.
However, some of the most prominent opponents to mask-wearing have changed their tune in recent days. Even President Donald Trump, who was criticized for touring a mask factory without wearing a mask, declared himself "all for masks" yesterday, stating that he was pleased with the results of a recent fitting: "I sort of liked the way I looked."