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Slayer and Exodus guitarist Gary Holt has called Beyoncé “the most overrated talent on earth”, but has singled out Taylor Swift and Adele for high praise.
The metal musician was speaking on a recent episode of the Scandalous podcast, where he was talking up the talents of the ‘Cruel Summer’ singer in particular, and asked why artists like Beyoncé get so much praise when the likes of Swift gets “hated” on.
“Beyoncé will put out a song and there’s 30 fuckin’ people on [the credits],” Holt said. “How can 30 people write a song all gathered together? It’s like you’re not a songwriter, Beyoncé.”
“I mean, her daughter got a songwriting credit and a Grammy because she probably threw some kindergarten rhyme on one line and like, ‘Yep! Give her a Grammy.’ She now has one seventh of the Grammys Prince — the greatest artist that ever was or ever will be — ever got.”
“But Taylor writes everything. So I give her credit. She’s a songwriter. And some of these other people require massive teams — just like a factory of songwriting. Who even knows who did what anymore?”
He went on to state that Swift – who he also described as “an extraordinarily hardworker” who is “super fuckin’ nice to everybody” –also is prone to generosity, citing the story that she gave $100,000 bonuses to all of the truck drivers on her Eras tour.
“Beyoncé, the ball’s in your court,” Holt continued. “What are you tipping your drivers? Probably fuckin’ nothing. I don’t know. Maybe she’s super generous. I think Beyonce is the most overrated talent on earth. I think she’s marginally talented.”
The guitarist did speak highly of Adele, however, who he described as “my favourite” and “the greatest singer of the last fuckin’ 30 years”.
Holt is the guitarist, bandleader and principal songwriter of Exodus and has been a permanent member of Slayer since the death of Jeff Hanneman in 2013.
Slayer, meanwhile, will “never tour again”, according to guitarist Kerry King in a recent interview. They announced their retirement in 2019, but they are set to headline two festivals in September: Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky and Riot Fest in Chicago.
Speaking ahead of those shows, King said: “We’re never gonna tour again — it ain’t gonna happen. We’re never gonna record again; that’s not gonna happen either. But to do commemorative shows, I think that’s kind of fun. I don’t have to be married to it for a long time.”
“Kids don’t have to worry about it coming around on tour because we said we wouldn’t. There’s not a whole lot of weird diabolical shit going on here. I think people have just gotta say, ‘Hey, it’s anniversary celebration shows.’ That’s gonna be the end of it.”