NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 04: Sheryl Crow attends the 13th annual Stand Up for Heroes to benefit the Bob Woodruff Foundation at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden on November 04, 2019 in New York City and NEW YORK, NY - JULY 31: Jason Aldean performs on NBC's "Today" at Rockefeller Plaza on July 31, 2015 in New York City.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The Bob Woodruff Foundation/ Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images
Artists

Sheryl Crow Speaks Out Against Jason Aldean's Controversial Song: 'Small Towns are Sick of Violence'

Sheryl Crow dismissed Jason Aldean's 'Try That in a Small Town' as "lame."

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Sheryl Crow chimed in on the controversy over Jason Aldean's song "Try That in a Small Town" and its music video on Tuesday (July 18) while focusing on lyrics that reference guns.

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"I'm from a small town," Crow wrote on Twitter. "Even people in small towns are sick of violence. There's nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting. This is not American or small town-like. It's just lame."

Crow's Tweet was a response to similar criticism of Aldean from Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand— a grassroots organization which, per its Twitter bio, "[demands] reasonable solutions to address our nation's culture of gun violence."

"[Aldean] —who was on-stage during the mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert in 2017 that killed 60 people and wounded over 400 more— has recorded a song called 'Try That In A Small Town' about how he and his friends will shoot you if you try to take their guns," Watts wrote.

Elements of the song's video, including its filming location and use of stock footage from protests outside of the US, have been scrutinized, prompting Aldean to Tweet a lengthy statement.

"In the past 24 hours, I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests," Aldean 

The native of Macon, Ga. —population 150,000+— added that "'Try That In A Small Town,' for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief."

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