Slayer’s Gary Holt ‘Made It Through’ Coronavirus
Slayer and Exodus guitarist Gary Holt said he “made it through” his coronavirus infection, though it was confirmed he had the illness only after he was beginning to recover.
“So, I finally received my test results back and positive it was,” Holt said on Instagram. “[My wife] Lisa’s came back negative, and it’s been long enough since my symptoms that I am officially in the clear to do the only things I’m allowed, like buy my own groceries! I feel great, made it through the tougher moments, and my health feels 100 percent normal. Thanks to everyone who had wished us well. Now it’s time to start working on some new Exodus riffs while I’m still basically stuck in my house!”
Meanwhile, Van Morrison revealed he was struggling to be creative during his lockdown at home. “I want to write, but I am kind of getting a bit lazy at the moment,” he said. “I was supposed to be doing six gigs in London, so I went from touring to basically just being at home. I am trying to get back into writing.”
He went on to reflect on his catalog. “Some of my works are just straight poetry, some could be a song or a poem and some are poetry with a music back-up, like ‘On Hyndford Street’, which was based on my early days, listening to my father’s record collection and Radio Luxembourg," he noted. "I have a book of Cole Porter’s songs and his lyrics are just poetry. I don’t think there is a lot of difference.”
John Fogerty played another Creedence Clearwater Revival classic from his home studio after having previously delivered a trio of lockdown performances – you can watch him singing “Proud Mary” below.
Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond discussed the philosophy behind his decision to waive all fees for artists who sold music and merchandise via the platform on March 20 – leading to its most successful day’s turnover ever. “We’re an ‘artists first’ service, and the reason we are is because of this belief that music is essential to humanity,” Diamond told Billboard. “My feeling has always been that if you believe that music is essential, then the welfare of the artist is also essential too.”
He said that fan response on the day had confirmed his feelings. “The idea is, ‘Hey, the best way to support an artist with music you love is directly giving them some money,’” he explained. “It’s not to do all these things that’ll hopefully trickle down. Seeing that click for so many more people than it does on the average day was really cool. … I feel like we all have a responsibility to work towards a better world. As a community, we can have a lot more impact than we would individually.”
There are currently more than 861,000 cases of COVID-19 confirmed worldwide, with 42,387 deaths and 178,668 recoveries. In the U.S., the total number of cases stood at 188,592 with 4,056 deaths and 7,251 recoveries. Of all cases, 95 percent were said to be mild, with the others either serious or critical.