The plea, which was signed by nearly 200 artists and executives involved in the entertainment industry, states, in part: “Music always has been celebrated communally, on dance floors 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.…We call on Congress to do more to prevent the gun violence that kills more than 90 Americans every day and injures hundreds more… Billboard and the undersigned implore you—the people who are elected to represent us—to close the deadly loopholes that put the lives of so many music fans, and all of us, at risk.”
Among those who signed the open letter are Adam Lambert, Alan Gilbert, Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Carole King, Cyndi Lauper, James Corden, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Jonas, Josh Groban, Lady Gaga, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Paul McCartney, Terence Blanchard and dozens more.