On Monday night in Orlando, Rolling Stones' frontman Sir Mick Jagger took a moment between songs to welcome Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“We have some great local celebrities that have come tonight. Tiger Woods is here, for instance. Joey Fatone is here,” Jagger said out from the stage at the Camping World Stadium, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “And Ron DeSantis is up there in the suite. He’s having a date night with Mickey Mouse. I’m so glad they finally made up.”
Jagger's comments, apparently tongue-in-cheek (there is no sign DeSantis was actually at the show), are the latest public mentions of the controversial Republican governor by a musician, but they're not the only ones. Several prominent artists have come out for and against the polarizing politician.
Elton John calls recent Florida laws 'disgraceful,' says US is 'going backwards'
During an interview with Radio Times in June 2023, the legendary pop singer Sir Elton John said it was "all going pear-shaped in America."
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"There’s violence, laws enacted in Florida which are disgraceful," John said. "There’s a law now that, if you visit a doctor in Florida, they can refuse to treat you if you’re gay, which I find just unbelievable."
DeSantis had recently signedSB 1580, also called the“Protections of Medical Conscience" bill, which allows Florida healthcare providers to refuse services based on their moral, ethical or religious beliefs.
"We seem to be going backwards. And that spreads. It’s like a virus that the LGBTQ+ movement is suffering," John said. “It’s a growing swell of anger and hom*ophobia that’s around America.”
Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38 Special's Van Zant brothers write 'Sweet Florida' tribute song for DeSantis
"Well,we ain’t been locked down, we still have our freedom," Johnny Van Zant sings. "We can still see our friends and family, oh, our kids are in school and we can go to church on Sunday.And it’s all because DeSantis knows how to lead.”
Johnny Van Zant, lead singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd, and his brother Donne, a founding member of .38 Special, wrote a new song, "Sweet Florida," to pay tribute to DeSantis and raise campaign funds by selling merchandise for the song.
'Paramore' lead singer Haley Williams cusses out DeSantis supporters at show
Days after DeSantis officially announced his short-lived presidential bid, "Paramore" lead singer Hayley Williams made it clear she would not be voting for him.
"I’ll be happy to tell you I’m very f---ing comfortable talking politics," she said between songs, to cheers. "And if you vote for Ron DeSantis, you’re f---ing dead to me.
"So is that comfortable enough for anyone?" she said.
Last June, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Florida, joined Williams on stage in Washington, D.C. after she asked him to say a few words. Those words were more expletives against DeSantis.
Billy Dean releases song endorsing DeSantis for president
Country music singer-songwriter Billy Dean, who sang the National Anthem for the first day of the 2021 Legislative Session, wrote a theme song for DeSantis' presidential campaign called "Never Back Down," featuring fellow Florida natives Hugh and Cody VanLandingham. The governor played it at his campaign rallies.
“I’m a Florida native and resident who has lived the American Dream,” Dean said in a release. “My dad served in World War II and lost two of his brothers to the cause. They sacrificed their dreams so I could live mine.My dad did not want me to serve the country with guns and bullets, but I can serve with my pen, paper and guitar.”
Azealia Banks praises DeSantis' leadership
Rapper Azealia Banks had lots of approving words for DeSantis in a 2023 Guardian interview, saying she felt "way safer" in Florida than in Los Angeles.
“There are elderly people in our country without walkers, who don’t have the money to get a septic tooth pulled," she said. "If we’re talking about divvying up healthcare funds, those situations should take precedence to facial feminization surgeries and stuff like that. I mean, I get it – but that’s a cosmetic surgery. Like, does your penis work? Can you pee? You’re not as in trouble as the older woman who can’t afford her dialysis. I think DeSantis is practical about a lot of things.”
Pink handed out banned books at Florida shows
While she didn't name DeSantis, multi-Grammy winner and singer-songwriterP!nk took a shot at his policies last year when she teamed up with literacy advocacy group PEN America and Florida bookseller Books & Books to give away 2,000 banned books at a couple of Florida concerts to highlightthe surge in book bans in Floridaand across the country. Many of the book bans and challenges were driven by the conservative grassroots group and DeSantis ally Moms for Liberty.
“Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child, and that’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” Pink said in a press release.
In an Instagram Live announcement, she said, "I can't imagine my own parents telling my kids what they can and can't read, let alone someone else's parents, let alone someone else who doesn't even have children."
Luke Bryan invites DeSantis on stage, gets backlash
In 2022, country singer Luke Bryan started off his Jacksonville concert by saying they were going to have"some fun" and "raise some money tonight for the great state of Florida to benefit the Florida Disaster Fund for people impacted by Hurricane Ian. Then he brought DeSantis to the stage.
After some bantering about the upcoming Florida-Georgia game, DeSantis said, "Tomorrow's going to be a big game. But all you Florida voters, if you want to keep the state of Florida free, we need you to vote on Nov. 8!"
Thunderous applause and chants of "U-S-A!" greeted him in the stadium that night, but online Bryan took heat for the move. A few days later he defended the decision in a post to Twitter.
"I typically don't respond to stuff when I'm getting run down on a social platform but here's the deal," Bryan wrote. "I understand Governor DeSantis is a very polarizing figure. But I grew up in a country where if a governor (asks) you if they can come and raise awareness to help victims of a natural disaster you help."
John Legend calls DeSantis 'cruel' for immigrant stunt
After DeSantis had former felons arrested for voter fraud and shipped nearly 50 Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha's Vinyard, Grammy-award-winning singer/songwriter John Legend called the governor cruel.
“You see his cruelty when it comes to arresting people who were told that they were allowed to vote. You see his cruelty when it comes to him, flying refugees and asylum seekers around the country, based on deception and lies,” Legend told MSNBC host Chris Hayes. “He's a cruel, small person, and you're seeing that in his resistance to the democratic reform that the voters of Florida overwhelmingly voted for.”
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Taylor Swift namechecks 'Florida!!!'
Swift didn't mention DeSantis either. But the song "Florida!!!" on her latest album, "The Tortured Poet's Department," takes aim at what the governor has proudly called "a law and order state."
The song, which fans have speculated is about her breakup with English actor Joe Alwyn and her Eras Tour shows in Tampa, paints Florida as a wild west of binge drinking, murder and drugs. "And my friends all smell like weed or little babies, and this city reeks of driving myself crazy," she sang.
Contributor: Tom Szaroleta, Florida Times-Union
