Live Nation Cancels Concerts with Artist Who Sings About Killing LGBT People

Published August 27, 2009 @ 06:26PM PT

Buju Banton

Historic news! After receiving more than 650 emails from change.org members, as well as criticism from groups like the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, Live Nation has decided to cancel four concerts by musical artist Buju Banton. Banton has a track record of performing music with lines that reference killing LGBT people, including one song that mentions throwing acid on LGBT people and burning them like old tires.

In a statement emailed out to everyone who petitioned the company, Live Nation said in simple terms:

LIVE NATION CANCELS BUJU BANTON CONCERTS

LOS ANGELES, CA - August 27, 2009 Live Nation announced today it
has cancelled all previously scheduled concerts by Buju Banton. These
include:

10/01/09 House of Blues Chicago
10/15/09 House of Blues Las Vegas
10/20/09 House of Blues Dallas
10/22/09 House of Blues Houston

Refunds are available at the point of purchase.

Congratulations to everyone who emailed to help make this happen! Together we sent the message that artists who sing about committing acts of violence toward LGBT people are not the type of acts that national music promoters like Live Nation should be hawking.

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Comments (28)

After all the Catholic bs this week, this totally makes my day!

Posted by Sean Stidham on 08/27/2009 @ 07:11PM PT
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Oh great news! The power of US, yes.

Posted by Lee Dorsey on 08/27/2009 @ 07:11PM PT
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Awesomeness. I was just saying how they wouldn't do it because they only care about money. I love it when I'm wrong.

Posted by Jae Manion on 08/27/2009 @ 07:30PM PT
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How could this kind of thing ever ever happen I had just read about this for the first time.

He should be put in prison because he is a danger to all society himself.

Posted by Carol Hill on 08/28/2009 @ 01:50PM PT
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Yes, but AEG is refusing to cancel more U.S. dates scheduled.If more petitions need to be signed then lets get at it.

Posted by Ricky Leliefeld on 08/27/2009 @ 07:52PM PT
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Live Nation has done the correct thing by cancelling Buju Banton's concert at the House of Blues. Change for the better is always possible and if that raggae artist wants to be legitimate again, he must denounce homophobia. However since Buju Banton is justifying cruelties against the LGBT community, such artists must not be promoted because the lyrics are horrible. Live Nation has given themselves more tolerance for LGBT people by cancelling that tour.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 08/27/2009 @ 07:52PM PT
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Great job Mike and everyone else who put pressure on Live Nation.

Posted by Dave Hershey on 08/27/2009 @ 08:31PM PT
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Congrats! This is a great victory for justice!

Posted by Amanda Kloer on 08/28/2009 @ 06:20AM PT
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I am sorry to disagree with everybody. Can one person please tell me the title of the last song that Buju Banton has recorded in the last 13 years which depicts this sort of violence and hate. He was very young and foolish when he recorded these tracks that everybody talks about. He converted to Rastafarianism in the mid 90's and has changed his outlook. People have to allow for people to change. People also need to not view this subject from an ethnocentric point of view. Take a look at Jamaican culture and study it. It contains more churches per ca-pita than any other place in the world. People tend to be a product of their culture. This does not justify anything, however people need to take a closer look at things before they are so quick to crucify somebody.

Posted by Hari Newmark on 08/28/2009 @ 08:50AM PT
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Somebody put this better the other day, but essentially....whether Buju Banton wrote the song 13 years ago (or more) is somewhat irrelveant. The fact that he continues to perform that song means that he might as well have written it yesterday. Because every time it's sung, it reinforces the idea that LGBT people are worthy of acts of violence.

There are also very real efforts in Jamaica - JFLAG is one group - to root out homophobia and work for more acceptance.

Thanks for the comment!

Posted by Michael Jones on 08/28/2009 @ 09:05AM PT
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I agree with Michael. If Buju Banton really did change his outlook, he would have denounced the messages of his older songs, and spoken up about his new perspective. One can claim ignorance when one does not know the facts and "is a product of their culture". However, once someone is aware of the truth of their prejudices, they can no longer claim to be naive.

Kudos to Live Nation, and to all those who continue to fight against prejudice and hatred.

Posted by Barbara McNamara on 08/28/2009 @ 12:07PM PT
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Tell that to the LGBT people who have lost their lives to the homophobic violence that terrorizes everyone in Jamaica. Tell that to those who are scared into the closets or to never open the door in the first place. Yeah, maybe that's Jamaican culture, but it does not mean we need to allow it to come here. If Buju Banton has changed, let him denounce the message of those songs. Otherwise, he needs to suffer the consequences of his silence on his past message.

Posted by Rick Kappra on 08/28/2009 @ 01:46PM PT
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He's probably a confused, closeted bisexual or homosexual. That's why most people are so blatently homophobic. Don't get defensive or we'll think you are gay. Its the same reason we know most politicians are homophobic. Cause they are in denial. Someone needs to walk up to people like this and simply say, "Yeah, we gay."

Posted by Kenny Neff on 08/28/2009 @ 02:04PM PT
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I like his dreads, though...

Posted by Kenny Neff on 08/28/2009 @ 02:05PM PT
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Hari Newmark

I am so sorry you think we are suppose to turn the other cheek, but see this Buju is still singing the same songs, haven’t you notice? Or are you blind...

BTW if society allowed it, maybe Buju needs to be crucified, at least the world wouldn’t have to hear his garbage... and the GLBT community wouldnt have to worry about another GLBT hunt by closed minded idiots.

Posted by Lara Nunes on 08/29/2009 @ 11:15PM PT
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There are consequences for what people do. Putting out music with this kind of rhetoric is atrocious, and he should be held accountable for it. Just because he grew up in a country that has a lot of churches spreading hate does not excuse this kind of behavior! The churches, too, should be held responsible!

Posted by CARL miller on 08/31/2009 @ 06:17AM PT
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Good try. People need to be more responsible about the lyrics they write. There are children out there that could come across his "old" music. We all need to be working together to promote love and acceptance of one another, not hatred and violence. Peace brother.

Posted by JoEllin Dahlin on 09/12/2009 @ 12:39PM PT
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So this is a victory, right?

Posted by Rick Kappra on 08/28/2009 @ 01:42PM PT
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YES! Power to the people. Thank you everyone for signing the petition.

Posted by Melissa Latessa on 08/28/2009 @ 01:44PM PT
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What kind of person is this to even think that way much less sing about it? I just don't get it at all.

Thank God it was cancelled and that is fact.

Posted by Carol Hill on 08/28/2009 @ 01:52PM PT
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This was a great victory. Banton continues to be a voice for ignorance and bigotry. The fact that he converted to Rastafarianism does not make any kind of case in his defense. He remains a hateful bigot. He is similar to the hateful bigots of Bad Brains. That band converted to Rastafarianism, developed fake Jamaican accents, and harassed fans who disagreed with their anti-gay hatred or ludicrous anti-contraception beliefs.

Good riddence to both shams of the music scene. Rev. Bookburn - Radio Volta

Posted by Rev Bookburn on 08/28/2009 @ 01:57PM PT
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wow! hahaha...i couldn't bring myself to sign it because he has many beautiful songs, STILL i am glad you all did it! I am happy a message was sent! I think many Rastas/Christians (basically the same thing)are fake IMHO which is of course another blog entirely....basically if you are supposedly a beenie man or colongi or some kinda righteous person, then didnt you read the bible, the part where it says thou shall not kill? Everyday i dislike this religion more and more.....and i know i'm totally going to offend someone! I am sorry, so sorry! I really have many christian friends whom i love, and there are just sooooo many more who use the bible to preach hate! They should be stoned for using the bible in this manner! LOL!

Posted by Margaret Free on 08/29/2009 @ 01:41AM PT
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Well I think it is a great victory a beginning of more to come. Great Job!!!

Posted by J on 08/29/2009 @ 02:48PM PT
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Wonderful news indeed to wake up to this morning. I agree with all those who said that if Banton had really changed his philosophy, he would have denounced those old songs, so full of hatred and bigotry, Publicly; on national TV.

And Margaret; a person can use the bible in any manner they choose. What I mean is; the daggone book is written so that just about anyone can choose a text from it and make it mean whatever they want to. This does not make it true nor does it make it right and this is one reason why I am SO glad I am an atheist. (Although I never hated gays or anyone for that matter even when I was a christian) Do you suppose that sooner or later, all NON haters will give up religion? Because it seems to me that the two go hand in hand. From the Dark Ages to burning women at the stake in Salem, to the atrocious actions of the KKKin the early 1960's, to modern day hatred of homosexuals, liberals, and folks like Dr. George Tiller, it seems that religious beliefs are almost always a prerequisite for violence. Let me see if I get this straight. It's NOT ok to kill unborn fetuses, but it IS ok to kill the abortion doctor IN CHURCH. That right there is an act of blasphemy! If there is a God; which I seriously doubt, I pity this murderer on judgment day because no one should ever be murdered in cold blood in God's house. Don't you agree?

Posted by Mike Nichols on 08/31/2009 @ 06:47AM PT
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Well mr. nichols...

As wicca is also a religion...

This non-hater will never give it up.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 09/04/2009 @ 08:31PM PT
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Sorry, I don’t see this as a victory for the LGBT community, rather just one of the few times those pimps of gutter-mouthed performers have deigned to respond to objection to the filth they are dumping on all of society.

I live in San Francisco, and have watched those Brownshirts, aka homosexual activists with their hate, in action, so I have no love for the movement, but there is no justification or excuse for advocating violence by anyone against anybody, no matter who they are.

While we’re at it, do you think we can get those pimps of filth, who promote performers spouting misogyny, racism, hatred, etc., to clean up their acts?

Posted by Richard Ortiz on 08/31/2009 @ 10:15AM PT
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I am ashamed that it has to take e-mails to get anyone to cancel such a vile persons concert. Who in their right minds would even book such hatred? We need to all work together to make this world a better place not preach hatred! I applaud House of Blues for canceling but think whoever booked this man should be let go.

Posted by Debbie Ingram on 09/03/2009 @ 12:38PM PT
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I live in Jamaica. I am straight but my sister is lesbian and quite a few close relatives and friends are LGBT both here and abroad. I don't support homophobia or any other form of bigotry or hatred, and I support intelligent means of changing both laws (Jamaica's are retrograde in this matter) as well as minds.

BUT, I can tell you that the way in which this issue has been approached by groups outside of Jamaica has not helped change things here, in fact, it has made them worse- just ask J-Flag, the local LGBT organisation.

99% of the persons invovled in this fight have zero idea of what conditions are really like for poor people in Jamaica, and the kind of environment that gives rise to homophobia here and to artists like Buju.

When the overseas groups push these people (which has been the majority of cases) as opposed to seeking dialogue, you just make them angrier and more resilient. Frankly, I know Buju personally, he's a bit crazy, but he is also very bright, but he and many others like him are just really pissed off- foreign white people telling him what to do and how to think, as opposed to saying looks lets talk about this.

Like I said, I don't agree with his stance nor excuse it, but it is really easy (and lazy) to be angry about this issue from your flat in the upper Castro, without understanding where Buju etc. are really coming from.

The attitude of Jamaica will never change through confrontation and overseas dictates, I can tell you that absolutely, that is the nature of the Jamaican psyche- it will change, however, through dialogue, example and engagement.

Posted by Lincoln DaCosta on 10/13/2009 @ 09:05PM PT
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Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

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Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.