Joe Biden and Kamala Harris sworn in: The Rock World reacts

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As former President Trump departs for Florida and new sheriff in town Joe Biden assumes control, the world of music has its say

Joe Biden being sworn in as 46th President of the United States
Joe Biden being sworn in as 46th President of the United States (Image credit: Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

As new US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn into office today, musicians the world over took to social media to react. 

"Everything about today has been absolutely beautiful and perfect" tweeted Sons Of Apollo, Winery Dogs, Transatlantic, Flying Colors, LTE, Metal Allegiance, Neal Morse Band, Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold and Twisted Sister drummer Mike Portnoy, reacting to the successful inauguration of a new team to manage America. "I’ve shed many tears of joys so far and haven’t felt this kind of hope and optimism in a long time. Congratulations and Thank You President Biden and Vice President Harris."

Portnoy wasn't alone in posting upbeat reactions to the transition of power. "The Presidential Exorcism has begun!" tweeted Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, while Dee Snider said, "I loved President Biden's speech, but he should have ended with, 'Now let's get to work!'"

E-Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt stuck a note of caution, tweeting, "While the general mood is exuberance regarding the resilience of our system, my thoughts are how close we came to losing it, how it shouldn’t be so fragile, and my hope that all the loopholes and flaws in our system get fixed in a permanent way so this can never happen again."

Perhaps Michael Des Barres said it best: "The American flag means a lot to me. You mean a lot to me. The tragedies and the victories mean a lot to me. Passion and rationale mean a lot to me. The truth means everything to me. Fuck smoke, mirrors, greed and prejudice. God bless America."

For more reaction, read on.

Fraser Lewry
Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.