Bon Jovi release charity single American Reckoning about George Floyd’s murder by police
Grammy-winning rock band Bon Jovi released a new charity single called American Reckoning on Thursday.
The song was directly inspired by the tragic killing of George Floyd on May 25 by four Minneapolis policemen.
Lyrics referenced the late 46-year-old being unable to ‘breathe’ after having a knee on his neck for ‘eight long minutes’ during a counterfeit bill arrest.
New music: Grammy-winning rock band Bon Jovi released a new charity single called American Reckoning on Thursday
RIP: The song was directly inspired by the tragic killing of George Floyd on May 25 by four Minneapolis policemen
‘God d*** those eight long minutes,’ frontman Jon Bon Jovi sang.
‘Laying face down in cuffs on the ground / Bystanders pleaded for mercy / as one cop shoved a kid in the crowd / When did a judge and a jury become a badge and a knee on these streets?’
Floyd’s death sparked worldwide Black Lives Matter protests and lead to the firing and charging of officers Derek Chauvin (second-degree murder) as well as officers James Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao (aiding and abetting).
‘I was moved to write American Reckoning as a witness to history,’ the 58-year-old Oscar-nominated songwriter said in a statement.
‘Laying face down in cuffs on the ground’: Lyrics referenced the late 46-year-old being unable to ‘breathe’ after having a knee on his neck for ‘eight long minutes’ during a counterfeit bill arrest
June 3 mugshots: Floyd’s death sparked worldwide Black Lives Matter protests and lead to the firing and charging of officers Derek Chauvin (L, second-degree murder) as well as officers James Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao (aiding and abetting)
Frontman Jon Bon Jovi said in a statement: ‘I was moved to write American Reckoning as a witness to history. I believe the greatest gift of an artist is the ability to use their voice to speak to issues that move us’ (pictured last Wednesday)
Justice reform charity: Through December 31, 100% of the proceeds from the download will support Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative
Postponed: American Reckoning will also appear on Bon Jovi’s 15th studio album Bon Jovi: 2020, which Island Records will finally release on December 31
‘I believe the greatest gift of an artist is the ability to use their voice to speak to issues that move us.’
Through December 31, 100% of the proceeds from the download will support Bryan Stevenson’s justice reform charity, Equal Justice Initiative.
American Reckoning will also appear on Bon Jovi’s postponed 15th studio album Bon Jovi: 2020, which Island Records will finally release on December 31.
‘These are trying times’: On April 20, the Do What You Can rockers canceled their summer tour with Bryan Adams due to the coronavirus pandemic
Fully-recovered graduate: It was a month afterthe 58-year-old Oscar-nominated songwriter told ET that his 18-year-old son Jacob (R) recovered from a ‘mild version’ of COVID-19 – ‘just the intestinal kind’ (pictured June 6)
On April 20, the Do What You Can rockers canceled their summer tour with Bryan Adams due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was a month after Jon (born John Bongiovi) told ET that his 18-year-old son Jacob recovered from a ‘mild version’ of COVID-19 – ‘just the intestinal kind.’
As of Sunday, there have reportedly been 3.29M confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States leading to over 137K deaths.