The Reason Musicians Speak Up About Mass Shootings
Artists are shaping the gun-violence discourse, and the fascinating reaction to their political speech has demonstrated the specific reach they can have.
A spate of violence as horrific as the one recently experienced in the United States is the sort of thing everyone is entitled to have a reaction to. And “everyone” includes entertainers. Yet an odd, shaming script plays out when musicians in particular make their feelings known about matters of national importance. That script was highlighted this week, after Kacey Musgraves, the alternative-country singer who recently won the Album of the Year Grammy, called for gun control following the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Someone tweeted at her, “Stick to the singing Kacey. You do realize most of your fans are
