Kacey Musgraves just used her Lollapalooza set as a call for action on Sunday following the mass shootings this weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
While performing, she told the crowd,
“The shit that’s happening in the last twenty-four hours, much less everything that’s happened in the last two hundred and fucking fifteen days in America. So, I don’t know what the answer is, but obviously, something has to be fucking done.”
She then invited the crowd to join her in a chant.
“Maybe somebody will hear us if we all yell together ‘Somebody fucking do something!'”
Celebrities speaking out about political issues isn’t exactly revolutionary. But Kacey is a country artist. So the fact that she’s begging for stronger gun control laws is a huge deal. By doing this, she’s potentially alienating a large part of her fan base.
Country music artists are known for remaining silent when it comes to political issues, especially if those issues go against Republican values. The last time a country artist tried that, the backlash was so bad that they were pretty much run out of the music industry.
In 2003, Natalie Maines, the lead singer of the Dixie Chicks said that she and her fellow bandmates were against the war in Iraq.
“We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”
Her comments didn’t go over well with fans and other country artists and the band was blackballed from the country music world, forcing them to go on a three-year hiatus. The fate of the Dixie Chicks is probably the main reason why more country artists don’t speak out on social issues.
Luckily for Musgraves, she doesn’t have to worry about losing all of her fans. The “Rainbow” singer has an appeal that surpasses the country genre. Her fourth studio album Golden Hour, which has been praised for fusing pop and country, won all four of its categories at the 61st Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.
On Monday, she took a step further by aiming her frustrations directly at Trump.
“For a man who clearly loves being well-liked, it’s indescribably mind-numbing it see him blatantly and murderously ignore doing ONE THING that would not only make people happy but would SAVE PEOPLE’S LIVES. True leaders don’t stand back and watch the world burn.”
Of course, her stance on gun control didn’t go over well with some of her fans, with many telling her to stick to music.
But Kacey, who hails from Texas remained unflinching in her stance.
“Let me be — I’m from Texas. I grew up around hunting and guns. There’s a time and place for that and even self-protection in ways..but this is different. The system is majorly flawed and NOBODY NEEDS ANYTHING REMOTELY AUTOMATIC. PERIOD. They’re mass killing machines”
Kacey said that she normally doesn’t talk about politics publicly, but she’s had enough.
“It’s then not political issue anymore. It’s a matter of heart. Of humanity. Of survival.”
