Two weeks after her best-selling album, Beyonce is being criticized for her use of an audio clip from Challenger Shuttle explosion in her song “XO”. The sample, of former NASA public affairs officer Steve Nesbitt was from an ABC News broadcast just seconds after the Challenger Shuttle exploded in January of 1986, saying “flight controllers here looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction.” The song, produced by OneDirection frontman Ryan Tedder, the Dream, Hit-Boy and HazeBanga, uses the short clip in the introduction. Along with angry responses from former astronauts and NASA employees, the agency itself responded;
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…
Beyonce addressed the controversy, 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 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.
Source: Washington Post
