The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has released an official response to singer Beyoncé’s use of audio from the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion in her new song XO, saying the tragedy “should never be trivialised,” according to The Guardian and Hollywood Reporter.
The single, which is from Beyoncé’s fifth eponymous album, has a six-second-long clip taken from television footage as the shuttle exploded and fell to earth on January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members on board. Steve Nesbitt, who was the voice for NASA during the tragedy, is heard saying: “Flight controllers here are looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously, a major malfunction.”
Criticising the use of the audio in the song, NASA said in a statement, “The Challenger accident is an important part of our history, a tragic reminder that space exploration is risky and should never be trivialised. NASA works every day to honour the legacy of our fallen astronauts as we carry out our mission to reach for new heights and explore the universe.”
Beyoncé had said that the song, which is about a struggling relationship, includes the clip “in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten.” But families of victims and both former and current employees of NASA seem untouched, and said that it is “insensitive” to use the audio at the beginning of such a track.
June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of Challenger’s commander Dick Scobee, who died in the incident, told ABC News, “We were disappointed to learn that an audio clip from the day we lost our heroic Challenger crew was used in the song XO. The moment included in this song is an emotionally difficult one for the Challenger families, colleagues and friends. We have always chosen to focus not on how our loved ones were lost, but rather on how they lived and how their legacy lives on today,” said Rodgers.
Former NASA employee, Keith Cowing, described the clip as “inappropriate in the extreme” and not so different than “taking Walter Cronkite’s words to viewers announcing the death of President Kennedy or 9/11 calls from the World Trade Center attack and using them for shock value in a pop tune.”
Cowing also said that he wants Beyoncé to remove the clip and apologise to families of the Challenger crew. In a statement released to ABC News, Beyoncé expressed her sympathies to the families of Challenger explosion victims and clarified that she didn’t mean any offense by using the audio.
“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,” she said.
Tread carefully, Sasha Fierce!
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2014.
Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.