Blackout Tuesday: Following George Floyd’s Death, Rihanna, Drake, Zayn Malik Rally Together For A Day-Long Silence

The death of George Floyd, an African American, at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer has sparked an outrage, and people are furious. They stepped out to protest and now, the music industry also called for a ‘Blackout Tuesday’ on June 2 in response to the death of George Floyd. Rihanna, Billie Eilish, Zayn Malik, Drake, among other artists showed their support and are taking time to ‘disconnect from work and reconnect with community.’ Here’s all you need to know about Blackout Tuesday.

Two Atlanta Records executives took a stand and began the initiative #TheSHowMustBePaused, pausing the work week of the music industry. The statement reads, “'In response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless other Black citizens at the hands of police,#TheSHowMustBePaused is an initiative created by two Black women in music in observance of the long-standing racism and inequality that exists from the boardroom to the boulevard.” A lot of labels such as Warner Music Group, Sony/ATV, Apple Music's Ebro Darden, reposted the message and showed their solidarity on social media.

Spotify too will be blacking out, and will also specially curate playlists and podcasts. This initiative won’t just be for 24 hours as Agyemang and Thomas mentioned in the statement, “We are and will be in this fight for the long haul.”

Rihanna also showed her support sharing a blank black post and wrote, “we ain’t buying sh*t!!! and we ain’t selling shit neither!! gang gang! #BLACKOUTTUESDAY AF!!! @fenty @fentybeauty @savagexfenty.” Zayn Malik also shared the blank post and wrote, “#blacklivesmatter.” Sharing the blank post, Drake wrote, “Side by side.”

Britney Spears took to her Twitter and wrote, "To start I will be participating in #BlackoutTuesday tomorrow ….. I won’t be posting on social media and I ask you all to do the same. We should use the time away from our devices to focus on what we can do to make the world a better place …. for ALL of us !!!!!"