Brad Barket/Getty Images
Brad Barket/Getty ImagesA variety of veteran rock musicians, including Billy Joel, Elton John and The Who, are among the many artists participating in “Black Out Tuesday” in solidarity with the black community and the protests over the death of George Floyd.
“Billy Joel joins the music industry in support of Blackout Tuesday,” reads a nore posted on the Piano Man’s Twitter feed. “This will be a day of action committed to meaningful change in our communities both now and in the future.”
Elton simply posted a black square on his social media pages, as did many other artists, along with the hashtags #blacklivesmatter and #theshowmustbepaused. Similarly, The Who posted those hashtags and a black square with the band’s bullseye logo.
Green Day also is taking part in the protest. The band wrote on its Twitter feed, “In solidarity and observance of the #AmplifyMelanatedVoices movement, we will be refraining from posting content on this platform to create space to amplify the voices and experiences of Black people who need to be heard. Listen. Learn. #AmplifyMelanatedVoices #BlackLivesMatter.”
Other artists participating in Black Out Tuesday include Ozzy Osbourne, Coldplay and Foo Fighters.
However, Black Out Tuesday has also been criticized for overtaking the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. As The Verge points out, #BlackLivesMatter has been flooded with images of black squares, pushing down information regarding the movement.
By Josh Johnson and Matt Friedlander
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