The families who lost loved ones in the 1986 Challenger disaster have criticized Beyonce for sampling a sensitive audio clip in her newly-released tune ‘XO.’
This six-second sound bite utter by NASA’s public affairs officer can be heard at the start of Beyonce’s pop song: “Flight controllers here looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction.”
June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of Challenger commander Dick Scobee, responded with this statement: “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.”
Former NASA official Keith Cowing said: “These words were uttered as the crew and their disintegrating vehicle were still falling into the sea. These words are forever etched into the psyche of everyone who was watching that day and still echo across the years for the generation that followed… This choice of historic and solemn audio is inappropriate in the extreme.”
The song ‘XO’ was co-written by Knowles, Terius ‘The Dream’ Nash and Ryan Tedder. It has been described as a “joyous, echo-laden heart burst” and a “swelling anthem that is one of the highlights of her fifth studio album.”
Upon learning of the controversy, Beyonce issued her own statement: “My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster. The song 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.”
Check out the clip at the beginning of ‘XO’ below:
Photo: WENN