Lady Gaga says she hopes ‘purple’ Texas turns blue at Arlington concert

[]

The popstar also performed a special piano rendition of her song ‘Angel Down’ dedicated to victims of gun violence.

Aug. 24, 2022Updated: Aug. 24, 2022 11:52 a.m.

During her Arlington, Texas stop for her Chromatica Ball Tour, Lady Gaga called for Texas to turn blue. 

Samir Hussein/Getty Images for Live Nation

During Lady Gaga’s Arlington, Texas stop Tuesday night for her ongoing Chromatica Ball Tour, the popstar gave an impassioned two-minute speech encouraging the Lone Star State to transform its “purple heart.” Because, to paraphrase her oft used wisdom, there can be a hundred red voters in a room, but it might take only one to turn them blue. 

Between her sets, Gaga called Texas a “special place” where a lot of “conversations, a lot of dialogue, a lot of opinions, even some division” happens. “I want to celebrate you all tonight in the name of love,” she added. “I want to celebrate the importance of these hard conversations. From what I understand, right now, this state has a purple, purple heart. I think I’m hoping that that purple is gonna go blue. And if there’s anything you can do about it, I want to hear you yell.” 

The audience exploded in cheers and applause in response, but Gaga reiterated the importance of her mid-concert speech. “Maybe I brought this up and you’re thinking, ‘This is not for me, I do not want to talk about this right now,’ and you may not agree but guess what? I don’t know that this is about what you believe,” Gaga said. “This is about keeping people safe so sometimes we have to put aside what we believe.”

Illuminated by blue lights, Gaga then proceeded to perform a special piano rendition of her track “Angel Down” from her 2016 album “Joanne.” Gaga said she dedicated the song’s performance “as a prayer to keep the people safe so we don’t have to see any angels down,” and added that she hadn’t performed the track during any of her previous tour stops. 

Lady Gaga performing “Angel Down” at The Chromatica Ball in Arlington, TX. pic.twitter.com/gb2sSCEb4L

— Lady Gaga Now 🧠 (@ladygaganownet) August 24, 2022

The chilling lyrics state: “Doesn’t everyone belong/ In the arms of the sacred?/ Why do we pretend we’re wrong?/ Has our young courage faded?/ Shots were fired on the street/ By the church where we used to meet/ Angel down, angel down/ Why do people just stand around?”

In 2016, Gaga confirmed the mid-tempo ballad, dedicated to victims of gun violence, was inspired by the tragic murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed on Feb. 26, 2012 after being followed in his Florida neighborhood by self-appointed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. The special performance comes three months after the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed. Gaga is scheduled to perform in Houston at the Astros’ Minute Maid Park on Sept. 13. 

 

= 768 && window._taboolaRRI === 1) || (w 0) && HDN.dataLayer.content.objectId && window.Article.isSensitive !== true && (Object.hasOwnProperty.call(HDN, ‘activeABTest’) && HDN.activeABTest === ‘ENG9746’)) { p = ‘Right Rail Thumbnails’; m = ‘1×8-rr’; } } } } catch (e) {} var d = document.createElement(‘div’); d.id = c; var s = document.getElementById(‘taboola-right-rail-script-id’); s.parentNode.insertBefore(d, s); window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: ‘thumbnails-‘ + m, container: c, placement: p, target_type: ‘mix’ }); } })(); ]]>

Source