Category: Concert news
Posted by Melody Baetens (The Detroit News) on Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 11:40 AMBuju Banton concert cancelled after gay-rights group protests
Jamaican dance hall and reggae singer Buju Banton's concert scheduled for Wednesday at the Majestic Theatre has been cancelled.
According to Affirmations, a local community center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people and their friends, Banton's songs have disturbing lyrics that promote violence toward gay men, specifically in his song "Boom Bye Bye." Due to the organized efforts of local LGBT community leaders, several of Buju Banton concerts around the country have also been cancelled.
After Affirmations sent out a call to action to ask people to contact Majestic Theatre owner Dave Zainea to cancel the show, Zainea sent out a release announcing the cancellation.
"This was an incredibly tough decision for us both philosophically and economically. If we had known that there was any controversy surrounding this artist, we would have never even considered booking him. We do not condone any form of hate speech," said Zainea in a press statement released Friday.
To help the Majestic Theatre and the Zainea family with the cancellation costs of the Banton concert (which were thousands of dollars), Affirmations and Transgender Detroit will host a LGBT awareness concert on Wednesday. Tickets cost $10 and all proceeds will go toward the venue as a thank you for cancelling the concert.
