Members Of Music Community Pen Open Letter To Congress Regarding Gun Violence

The editors of Billboard magazine have posted an open letter to the U.S. Congress requesting they take action in response to gun violence including the recent mass shooting in an Orlando nightclub that left 49 people dead. Several prominent musicians and other members of the music community are among those who signed the letter which demands a background check for every gun sale and the blockage of suspected terrorists from buying guns.

Among the signatures are those of Grateful Dead members Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and their Dead & Company mate Jeff Chimenti, The Beatles’ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Yoko Ono, the members of My Morning Jacket and Pearl Jam, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Pat Sansone, Glenn Kotche and Mikael Jorgensen, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, The Beastie Boys’ Mike D, The Roots’ Questlove, The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, plus Beck, Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp, Michael Stipe, Sting, Matisyahu, Andrew Bird and several others.

Executives such as Tom Windish of the Windish Agency, Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Label Group, Michael Rapino of Live Nation, Irving Azoff of Azoff Madison Square Entertainment and Daniel Ek of Spotify were also among those who signed the open letter. A portion of the letter is below, head here to read it in full.

As leading artists and executives in the music industry, we are adding our voices to the chorus of Americans demanding change.

Music always has been celebrated communally, on dancefloors and at concert halls. But this life-affirming ritual, like so many other daily experiences—going to school or church or work—now is threatened, because of gun violence in this country.

The one thing that connects the recent tragedies in Orlando is that it is far too easy for dangerous people to get their hands on guns.