Rockers React to the ‘March for Our Lives’
Today, all across the U.S., people are marching to demand a strengthening of the nation's gun control laws. Paul McCartney was one of those out on the streets, while former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe teased at new music in response to it and Paul Stanley and Ted Nugent were among the musicians who posted their thoughts on social media. You can read them all below.
In New York City, CNN caught up with McCartney, who showed off his a shirt reading "We can end gun violence" when asked what he had hoped to accomplish by marching. He noted the location and referenced the 1980 murder of John Lennon. "This is what we can do," he said, "so I'm here to do it. One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here, so it's important to me."
On Instagram, Stipe tagged the march's official account with an audio clip of a new song called "Future, if Future," whose lyrics are "Future / If Future / This future is ours / Stunk to high heaven lotus, nerve gas or flowers / We’ve got the obvious, we’ve got the power/ Please don’t stare, we’re doing all we can.”
'So proud to live in this great country where we can raise our voices and gather in protest for change," Stanley tweeted, "but it will all mean nothing if you don't vote. Honor your freedom by using it. #MarchForOurLives."
March for our Lives was organized following the public outcry after the Feb. 14 killing of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where survivors raised their collective voice to call for stricter legislation. Several of the students made the trek up to Washington, D.C., to speak at the march.
Although he didn't mention it by name, Nugent's tweet suggested that he was offended by the use of the teenagers. "Shame on the adult scammers manipulating ignorant children for their counterproductive dangerous politics," he wrote. Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes also took a controversial opinion.