The whole country is reeling from two deadly mass shootings in less than 24 hours over the weekend, first in El Paso and then in Dayton. It’s been maddening to watch the same debates play out in the wake of the carnage without any substantial difference in action from those in power, to see the NRA crowd parroting the same old talking points about owning guns for self-defense and addressing deeper problems in our culture — as if any civilian needs an military-grade automatic weapon to protect their family, as if the president himself isn’t perpetuating many of those societal issues, as if our hands are tied and there’s simply nothing that can be done. Maybe it’s now a cliche to lash out at “thoughts and prayers” from right-wing politicians who refuse to consider even moderate gun control measures favored by a vast majority of the population, but to watch powerful people pretend they’re powerless is truly disgusting. I’m angry! Are you angry?

Kacey Musgraves is angry too. The country star stirred controversy in the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 by suggesting a return to “saloon days where every muthafucka is carrying a revolver and anyone walkin in to disturb the peace might maybe think twice.” Back then, after facing backlash, she quickly deleted and revised her stance, writing “All I know is something isn’t working. Thats all. I love y’all and my true intent is peaceful.” It seems in the three years since, Musgraves has further developed her position because she used her Lollapalooza set Sunday as a platform to call for gun reform.

As Rolling Stone points out, during Sunday’s set at Grant Park in Chicago, Musgraves told her audience, “I don’t know what the answer is, but obviously something has to be fucking done. Maybe somebody will hear us if we all yell together and say, ‘Somebody fucking do something.'” She then led the crowd in a “Somebody fucking do something!” chant while her pianist played the chords from her song “Rainbow.” You can see this play out in footage below.

After her set, Musgraves posted a series of tweets addressing the situation. First she wrote, “Thank you to everyone still brave enough to come out to festivals like this to see us play. We all need music & each other more than ever right now but how many of us will have to die before SOMEBODY FUCKING DOES SOMETHING. Heart broken for El Paso & Dayton.”

She then joined Rihanna in directly addressing President Donald Trump. “Don’t you hear us, @realDonaldTrump?” she wrote alongside footage of the chant during her Lolla set. “Don’t you hear our pain? You have the power to become a hero. Why don’t you take it?” She continued, “For a man who clearly loves being well-liked, it’s indescribably mind-numbing to see him blatantly and murderously ignore doing ONE THING that would not only make people happy but would SAVE PEOPLE’S LIVES. True leaders don’t stand back and watch the world burn.



@realDonaldTrump.”

Musgraves’s Golden Hour won Album Of The Year at this year’s Grammys, and we at Stereogum named it the #1 album of 2018. See her original tweets below.