Classic Rock
Guitarist Tom Morello talks about his friendship with Ted Nugent
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello revealed in an interview with Howard Stern that he has a friendship with Ted Nugent. The two musicians are known for their political preferences, Tom Morello on the liberal and Ted on the conservative side. Even though they have different opinions on many subjects, the two are friends.
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Guitarist Tom Morello talks about his friendship with Ted Nugent:
“You might be surprised that Ted Nugent and I are good friends. For his 60th birthday, someone reached out to me and said, ‘We’re making a video, and we’re asking guitar players – would you make a video [for Ted]?’
“At the time, the Ted Nugent was sort of known in the world in general as this kind of more right-wing caricature. People were not thinking of him, first and foremost, as the guy who shredded on ‘Stranglehold.'”
“But then I had to think, ‘What is the video that I’m going to make for Ted’s birthday?’ And I put some thought into it, and I said, ‘It’s gonna be about two things. One, it’s gonna be things that Tom Morello and Ted Nugent have in common.’
“I went down this long list of, like, free-speech advocates, our love of rock ‘n’ roll, our respect for black artists who created rock ‘n’ roll… Then the second was things that Ted Nugent taught an adolescent Tom Morello about sex.”
“Then I went through ‘Cat Scratch Fever,’ like, these strange words – the lyrics to the song ‘Cat Scratch Fever,’ the lyrics to the song ‘Wang Dang Sweet Poontang,’ which were utterly foreign to me. I had to ask about it on the playground. Anyway, so Ted called me up after that. And while we certainly have differences, I consider him a friend.”
