Beyonce Song News and Update: Apologizes over "XO" NASA Challenger Audio
Music diva Beyoncé has been labeled as "insensitive" after listeners started to notice what a six second audio clip on the song "XO," from Beyoncé's hit surprise album, was really from. The clip is the terrifying announcement of a NASA astronaut who launched the Challenger, the rocket ship that exploded 73 seconds after lift off in 1986.
It was Jan. 28 1986, and Americans were all watching as NASA was to launch another rocket into space. The crew consisted of seven passengers, including Christina McAuliffe. McAuliffe was a schoolteacher from New Hampshire who was chosen from 11,000 applicants to participate in the NASA Teacher in Space Project. Instead of becoming the first teacher in space, like she was scheduled to become, Christina ended up being one of the casualties of the fatal space shuttle explosion that day.
"Flight controllers here looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction," said now retired NASA public affairs officer Steve Nesbit as the nation watched the shuttle disintegrate on live television. This is also the clip played on Beyoncé's "XO," written and produced by Ryan Tedder and The Dream. Former and current astronauts, employees and Challenger family members argue, "using [the audio] in a pop song mocks the crew's sacrifice and opens fresh wounds."
Beyoncé released an exclusive statement to ABC News this morning saying, "My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster. The song 'XO' was recorded with the sincerest intention to heal those who have lost loved ones and to remind us that unexpected things happen, so love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you." The singer also adds: "The songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten."
But people aren't backing down. Keith Cowing, a former NASA employee who now runs the NASAWatch.com website, said, "This choice of historic and solemn audio is inappropriate in the extreme. The choice is little different than taking Walter Cronkite's words to viewers announcing the death of President Kennedy or 911 calls from the World Trade Center attack and using them for shock value in a pop tune." Cowing wants Beyoncé to remove the clip and apologize to families of the Challenger crew.
Retired NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson told ABC News that the "words in the video are simply insensitive, at the very least," but he is giving Beyoncé and her team the benefit of the doubt. "What we do in space just isn't as important to young people today" Anderson said. Beyoncé was born in Houston, the same home as NASA's astronaut training campus, the Johnson Space Center. She is also the voice of a wake-up recording greeting for the orbiting crew of STS-135, the final space shuttle flight.
"You inspire all of us to dare to live our dreams, to know that we're smart enough and strong enough to achieve them" Bey told the Atlantis crew back in 2011.
Do you think Beyoncé should just erase the clip off of "XO?"
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