Beyonce Controversy: "Challenger Shuttle Explosion" Audio Sample Used In New Single

[Lightning Strykez!]

Um...has anyone else heard this news today?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...io-from-challenger-disaster-on-her-new-album/

Apparently, Beyonce's new album has a single called "XO" which features actual speaking audio from the captain of the Challenger, just seconds before he (and six other NASA astronauts) died in an airborne explosion.

I remember being a student in 1986 when this tragedy happened. Everyone in my class was so hyped about Christa McAulliffe--the first "ordinary" woman who was also a school teacher--going up in space with other trained astronauts. I also recall clearly MY own teacher bursting into tears as we all watched Christa's life tragically end live on television in our classroom. My teacher couldn't even get it together enough to explain to us children what we had just witnessed. It was so shocking.

I know this happened 28 years ago. But for those families who lost loved ones it no doubt still is incredibly painful to reflect on. That said, I can't think of a sane reason why Beyonce would use an audio from this tragic moment in American History on a love song? Not only have the head honchos at NASA criticized her, but so have the survivors of those lost.

Frankly I find Beyonce's decision to use this sample disgusting and insensitive. There are certain lines you just don't cross--I don't care how badly you want an album to sell. That would be like a singer like Justin Bieber using footage or audio from the September 11th Attacks in New York for a music video or something lame like that. You just don't do it. Beyonce's getting a lot of heat for it and now she's claiming it was a "tribute" to the astronauts who died but when you listen to the lyrics it really has nothing to do with them.

 

[Victarion]

So shock value, basically.

 

[Lencho01]

I just heard about it. Her response sounds like BS. I think she and/or her people don't really care.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

I just heard about it. Her response sounds like BS. I think she and/or her people don't really care.

Agreed. It's total bull s*** response. What the f*** was she thinking? I can't believe she would go there. She will reap consequences for it, trust me.

 

[NickNitro]

**** her for being insensitive to the family and friends of those people who passed away.....that **** better not make it to the radio.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

**** her for being insensitive to the family and friends of those people who passed away.....that **** better not make it to the radio.

Ya know, I actually had her "surprise" album on my list of CDs to download. I like her music. But this is too much of a damn surprise for me. I refuse to use my personal finances to indulge this sort of stupidity.

 

[NickNitro]

Imagine the family members driving and hearing their loved ones on the radio for a stupid ****ing Beyonce song? How heart wrenching would that be. And we all know the radio plays 5-10 songs....so the probability of them hearing it multiple times on a car ride is pretty damn high.

 

[thejon93]

Always hated Beyonce. How she has so many fans, I'll never know. I find her to be unpleasant in every way, and her lyrics are absolutely terrible. She's always singing about having guys treat her wrong, yet she often seems like the reason from them treating her wrong in the first place. She's ugly, made-up to be pretty because she has money (and she's with Jay-Z) and her lack of personality is unbelievable. That song "If I Was A Boy" explains it all (as to why I hate her so bloody much). I would almost say that she's worse than Justin Bieber and One Direction combined because she's been around for so long, almost.

 

[Lencho01]

Agreed. It's total bull s*** response. What the f*** was she thinking? I can't believe she would go there. She will reap consequences for it, trust me.

I don't see her facing any consequences from it.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

I don't see her facing any consequences from it.

Oh yes she is. I'm not buying her album. A small consequence? Perhaps. But a sale is lost and a royalty will be lessened. And I'm posting my disgust about it here in a public forum. It's all over the internet today as well. I can't be the only one turned off by it to the point of not purchasing her newest album. I just can't buy something that trivializes a tragedy I lived through like this.

Give it a minute. The fact that her ass is backpeddling with lame explanations that it was done out of appreciation for their deaths shows she's feeling the heat. It's not like every Beyonce album has been a hot seller for her either, she's had some hit and misses due to their content. This could be another miss.

 

[Feenix]

I never liked Beyonce because she's so high on herself, it's quite disgusting. Singing duets with fans doesn't make her a good person, it makes her a show pony.

Using the audio isn't a tribute, it's a grab for attention. Many artists make tributes to events/people using their lyrics and sending a message across that way. For Beyonce to use the actual audio from the event makes her lazy, stupid, arrogant, self-centered, and above all, a super b*tch.

 

[Lencho01]

Oh yes she is. I'm not buying her album. A small consequence? Perhaps. But a sale is lost and a royalty will be lessened. And I'm posting my disgust about it here in a public forum. It's all over the internet today as well. I can't be the only one turned off by it to the point of not purchasing her newest album. I just can't buy something that trivializes a tragedy I lived through like this.

Give it a minute. The fact that her ass is backpeddling with lame explanations that it was done out of appreciation for their deaths shows she's feeling the heat. It's not like every Beyonce album has been a hot seller for her either, she's had some hit and misses due to their content. This could be another miss.

I don't know. I mean, sure some will be turned off from buying her album. But, plenty of people already have, she's treated as some sort of god for whatever reason, she's rich, she still would've been rich if she didn't even release the album. So, I see it as a non-issue for her.

 

[RetrogradeOrbit]

It's not like much will happen over this, except maybe she doesn't sell as many records.

Which is a shame. When someone does something as offensive as this, there ought to be consequences.

 

[Zatanna]

Well it's not like she's classy. And I don't think she's that smart.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

I don't know. I mean, sure some will be turned off from buying her album. But, plenty of people already have, she's treated as some sort of god for whatever reason, she's rich, she still would've been rich if she didn't even release the album. So, I see it as a non-issue for her.

I see your point.

However, a good reputation in the industry is so valuable--you can't put a price on that. Yes, she has money but once your reputation is s*** it can be hard to recover. Many celebrities have slipped up and seen their careers suffer.

And yes, people have already bought the new album and as they're listening to it these stories are coming out. People like me are reacting. They can't take the album back and get a refund. But they CAN think about if they'd purchase her next CD. I get to do both: neither buy this one or her next project.

 

[Octoberist]

I'm not going to villianize her but yes, it is baffling and insensitive to include that audio clip in that song. It's weird.

 

[charl_huntress]

Um...has anyone else heard this news today?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...io-from-challenger-disaster-on-her-new-album/

Apparently, Beyonce's new album has a single called "XO" which features actual speaking audio from the captain of the Challenger, just seconds before he (and six other NASA astronauts) died in an airborne explosion.

I remember being a student in 1986 when this tragedy happened. Everyone in my class was so hyped about Terry McAulliffe--the first "ordinary" woman who was also a school teacher--going up in space with other trained astronauts. I also recall clearly MY own teacher bursting into tears as we all watched Terry's life tragically end live on television in our classroom. My teacher couldn't even get it together enough to explain to us children what we had just witnessed. It was so shocking.

I know this happened 28 years ago. But for those families who lost loved ones it no doubt still is incredibly painful to reflect on. That said, I can't think of a sane reason why Beyonce would use an audio from this tragic moment in American History on a love song? Not only have the head honchos at NASA criticized her, but so have the survivors of those lost.

Frankly I find Beyonce's decision to use this sample disgusting and insensitive. There are certain lines you just don't cross--I don't care how badly you want an album to sell. That would be like a singer like Justin Bieber using footage or audio from the September 11th Attacks in New York for a music video or something lame like that. You just don't do it. Beyonce's getting a lot of heat for it and now she's claiming it was a "tribute" to the astronauts who died but when you listen to the lyrics it really has nothing to do with them.

I remember this event vividly as I was also in class watching it on TV. It was really the first shocking thing I had ever seen on TV. There was a lot of hype surrounding Christa McAulliffe because she was a teacher, which really made her cool IMO.

To be fair though, Beyoncé is notoriously hands on with her music and personal image, but it has been said by some (not me) that she's not that bright. I believe she was homeschooled and spent most of her life training to be the star her father wanted her to be. Usually producers who create the tracks add stuff like that, and it's very likely she had no idea the recording was from that tragedy. It's also likely the producer didn't either. That's no excuse, but considering how concerned Beyoncé is about personal image as a celebrity then I believe she'll do the right thing and remove the track from her album.

edit:

I missed the comment she made, but that really sounds like CYA mentality so she doesn't sound like an A-hole. I still have trouble believing any of them really knew how offensive it would be.

 

[Superwoman Prime]

Irreplaceable is the only song I like from her.

 

[SuperT]

I bought her new album and love it but yes this was not a smart move on her point. I can see what she was trying to do artistically coupling it with "XO" since that song does heavily hint at mortality, death and loving the people you have now but it just didn't work.

As Octoberist, said, I'm going to villainize or do some Beyoncé boycott since I don't think she was being malicious. She messed up, she apologized - she'll be fine and hopefully learn something.

I think another thing that is probably sadder is that I didn't even know what the clip was from when I first heard the song and I'm probably not alone in that very large boat.

 

[Lencho01]

I see your point.

However, a good reputation in the industry is so valuable--you can't put a price on that. Yes, she has money but once your reputation is s*** it can be hard to recover. Many celebrities have slipped up and seen their careers suffer.

And yes, people have already bought the new album and as they're listening to it these stories are coming out. People like me are reacting. They can't take the album back and get a refund. But they CAN think about if they'd purchase her next CD. I get to do both: neither buy this one or her next project.

True, her reputation can hurt her. But, I think given her position and power she's gained over the years, it won't be a big deal to her unless she has much pride/a huge ego or something. I don't see this really hurting her, if at all.

I'm not going to villianize her but yes, it is baffling and insensitive to include that audio clip in that song. It's weird.

Yeah, it had nothing to do with the point of the song or the music video.

 

[E-Man]

Always hated Beyonce. How she has so many fans, I'll never know. I find her to be unpleasant in every way, and her lyrics are absolutely terrible. She's always singing about having guys treat her wrong, yet she often seems like the reason from them treating her wrong in the first place. She's ugly, made-up to be pretty because she has money (and she's with Jay-Z) and her lack of personality is unbelievable. That song "If I Was A Boy" explains it all (as to why I hate her so bloody much). I would almost say that she's worse than Justin Bieber and One Direction combined because she's been around for so long, almost.

I think it's because a lot of her fans want to be her. She has gone from being popular because of her music to having that pop star feel of where she has masses of fans that look up to her because of her lifestyle. This is only my theory though. I could be wrong, but my sister is a huge Beyonce worshiper. Her and a bunch of other Beyonce fans never seem to talk about her music whenever she is criticized. It's all, "She makes more money than anybody," or "Her concert sold out in three minutes and 50 seconds." They never respond with any musical merits of why she is good, but whatever floats their boat.

But I don't think that Beyonce is worse than Bieber and One Direction. Beyonce actually can sing really well, and not in that Lady Gaga fashion where an above average singer is praised because people don't expect it because she's so busy doing attention ****ing. Beyonce is a really great singer that could do a helluva lot better than the crap she puts out, but if it sells I see why she does it. I would rather her have great songs with good lyrics like Colbie Caillat or old school Whitney, but that's the way the bacon crumbles.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

I just feel that with all the millions of dollars these people make they should be able to afford to hire someone to get their ass on Google and figure out where these audio clips come from--before they use them. Is it that difficult? I have a hard time believing that's just "stock" remix material.

Someone had to have lifted that audio deliberately from the video footage--it's the first time it's EVER been used. What did these "music masterminds" think the smoke and fire was from? Fireworks? No. That's what 8 people being burned to death on live television looks like.

So damn dumb. LOL

 

[redhawk23]

My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster. The song ‘XO’ was recorded with the sincerest intention to help 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 songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten.

She probably didn't even know where the sample was as she had little to do with writing the song.

 

[charl_huntress]

People like Beyoncé because she can sing! I understand hating on her for other reasons, but you cannot deny the girl has talent. In this age of singers who absolutely cannot sing (looking at you Perry and Rhianna) then hating her because she's pretty AND has talent is just...pure nonsense.

I remember watching an interview once where someone tried to hate on her because she didn't sing live at the Superbowl and she busted out right there in acapella! Say what you want, but the girl is talented and she's made a huge success of actually being talented. That's more than most singers of today can say.

 

[Ant-manic]

Oh yes she is. I'm not buying her album.

were you going to buy her surprise album, before this?