"I think she's marginally talented"— Gary Holt calls Beyoncé overrated, defends Taylor Swift in recent podcast appearance

Exodus guitarist Gary Holt has recently expressed his love for Taylor Swift on the latest episode of the Scandalous Podcast. Holt, who also plays with thrash metal giant Slayer, was heard defending Swift in the episode that aired on July 16, 2024. He said,

"I love Taylor Swift. Why all the hate? She's an extraordinarily hard worker. She's super f*cking nice to everybody, and people hate her. She's just the biggest pop star on Earth, and more power to her. I like the songs!"

Gary Holt even compared Taylor Swift with Beyoncé, saying that he is not a fan of the latter. He further stated that Beyoncé's songs usually involve a team of 30 people, and it is impossible for such a big group to pen the lyrics for a track. Holt addressed the teamwork by saying,

"It's just like a factory of songwriting! Who even knows who did what anymore, when there are like 20 names on it."

Holt even had a different kind of opinion about Taylor's work, and he explained by stating,

"I think Beyonce is the most overrated talent on Earth. I think she's marginally talented."

Gary Holt appeared critical about Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy Carter receiving a songwriting credit and said,

“Her daughter got a songwriting credit and a Grammy because she probably threw some (expletive) kindergarten rhyme on one line. She now has one-seventh the Grammys (that) Prince − the greatest artist that ever was or ever will be − ever got.”

Furthermore, Holt praised Swift by saying that he never changed the channel when Taylor's song was being played. Gary appreciated Swift's songwriting skills in the interview and added,

"Taylor writes everything. And so, I give her credit. She's a songwriter. And some of these other people, they require massive teams."

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Gary Holt speaks up on the impact of Kirk Hammett on his life

Gary Wayne Holt also spoke about his relationship with Metallica member Kirk Hammett during his appearance on the Scandalous Podcast. Holt credited Hammett for training him in guitar during his childhood.

Gary said that Kirk was the one who approached him at first and asked, "Want to learn to play guitar?" He addressed his response by saying:

"And I said, 'Yeah', because I always wanted to, but I'm the youngest of six."

Holt even opened up on how his successful career started in the music industry during his latest interview and added:

"Six months later, I was in Exodus. So yea, I owe it all to Kirk [laughs]. The first song he taught me was some Rolling Stone song; for some reason I can't remember what it was – maybe 'Wild Horses', something like that."

Gary Holt even recalled the time he spent with Exodus, saying that they played "Iron Maiden covers" and people used to consider those songs as original creations since "no one had heard Iron Maiden." He continued:

"We would throw these hall parties, when I was just a roadie…and we'd give them names like 'The Ripper' and 'Jug Night.' You'd pay $5 and there'd be 15 kegs, and 10 half-gallons of cheap whiskey… It was fun."

Apart from Exodus, Gary Holt has even collaborated with bands such as Slayer, Destruction, Heathen, Hypocrisy, and more.