Eric Clapton likens getting Covid vaccine to ‘mass formation hypnosis’

Legendary British guitarist Eric Clapton has likened getting the Covid vaccine to “mass formation hypnosis” in a truly bizarre rant.

English guitarist and music legend Eric Clapton claims he felt lured into receiving the AstraZeneca vaccination due to subliminal messaging in mainstream media and advertising.

The 76-year-old has been peddling unfounded Covid-19 vaccination theories in recent months, which kicked off in late 2020 when he released the anti-lockdown song Stand and Deliver with Irish singer Van Morrison.

The single – written by Morrison and recorded by Clapton – had many scratching their heads for going against the government lockdowns and mandates set in place to mitigate the early spread of coronavirus.

In a new interview on the Real Music Observer YouTube channel, Clapton peddled the theory of “mass formation hypnosis” – a phrase coined to suggest groups are being tricked into follow messages against their will – which has been widely discredited by scientists and medical experts.

Eric Clapton has likened getting the vaccine to ‘mass formation hypnosis’.

“I started to realise there was really a memo, and a guy, Mattias Desmet [Belgian psychologist], talked about it,” Clapton began. “And it’s great. The theory of mass formation hypnosis. And I could see it then. Once I kind of started to look for it, I saw it everywhere.

“Then I remembered seeing little things on YouTube which were like subliminal advertising. It had been going on for a long time. That thing about, ‘You will own nothing and you will be happy’.

“And I thought, ‘What’s that mean?’ And bit by bit, I put a rough kind of jigsaw puzzle together. And that made me even more resolute.”

Clapton, who is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream. He also ranked second in Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Speaking about his decision to release Stand and Deliver at a time when Covid-19 was ripping through communities around the world, Clapton doubled down on his choice to object government guidelines.

Clapton, pictured in 2010, is a recovering alcoholic and drug user. Picture: Evan Agostini/AP

“My career had almost gone anyway. At the point where I spoke out, it had been almost been 18 months since I’d been forcibly retired,” he said, referencing the pandemic bringing live music to a halt.

“I joined forces with Van and I got the tip Van was standing up to the measures and I thought, ‘Why is nobody else doing this?’, so I contacted him.

“He said, ‘I’m just objecting really. But it seems like we’re not even allowed to do that. And nobody else is doing it.’

“He sent me Stand and Deliver, which he’d already recorded. And it was during the process of talking about that with another musician, getting excited and sharing the news I found that nobody wanted to hear that.

“I was mystified, I seemed to be the only person that found it exciting or even appropriate. I’m cut from a cloth where if you tell me I can’t do something, I really want to know why.”

Eric Clapton is considered one of the most influential guitarists of all time. Picture: George Chin/EPC Enterprises LLP

Clapton, who said he suffers from peripheral neuropathy – a condition which causes damage to the peripheral nervous system – said his symptoms were “exasperated” after getting double dosed with AstraZeneca.

“I took the first jab of AZ [AstraZeneca] and straight away had severe reactions which lasted ten days,” he said.

After the second shot, he said, “My hands and feet were either frozen, numb or burning, and pretty much useless for two weeks, I feared I would never play again.

“I should never have gone near the needle. But the propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone.”

Clapton, who has an astonishing net worth of $450 million, has been known to throw his support behind other anti-vax activists, including donating money to a British rock group who were slapped with fines for breaching Covid-19 protocol during a show in 2021.

The vaccines are, in fact, overwhelmingly safe. According to official data from the Therapeutic Goods Administration, there have been just 11 deaths linked to the shots in Australia, out of 46.1 million doses administered. By contrast, more than 3100 Australians have died from Covid.

Getting vaccinated means you are less likely to catch the virus, less likely to spread it to others, significantly less likely to develop severe symptoms that require hospitalisation, and significantly less likely to die.

You are much more likely to develop myocarditis as a result of catching Covid than as a result of getting vaccinated.

Originally published as Eric Clapton likens getting Covid vaccine to ‘mass formation hypnosis’