System Of A Down frontman has written to Imagine Dragons asking them not to perform in Azerbaijan; Dan Reynolds defends the band’s decision
Serj Tankian criticized the imagine Dragons for performance in Azerbaijan. Even joining artists like Brian Eno, Thurston Moore It is Roger Waters to try to prevent a show in the country, the lead singer of System of a Down was ignored.
Dan Reynolds returned: “I do not support depriving our fans who want to see us play because of the actions of their leaders or their governments. I think it snowballs. I think the second you start doing that, you have corrupt leaders and warmongers all over the world, and where do you draw the line?”
Tankian wrote a reply using social media:
I respectfully draw the line at ethnic cleansing and genocide. The Azerbaijani dictatorship with popular support was already in a 9-month hunger blockade in Nagorno-Karabagh, qualified as genocide by the former International Criminal Court prosecutor, Luis Gabriel Moreno OcampoqWhen they decided to play Baku. Would they play in Nazi Germany? Why don’t they want to play in Russia? Because it’s not popular? They support Ukraine but not the Armenians of Artsakh? The only “snowball” is the farce of moral equivalence that lies at the heart of this hypocritical attitude. I have nothing against this guy or his band. I just hate that artists are used to cover up genocidal dictatorships.
Dan Reynolds stated: “I don’t believe in depriving our fans who want to see us play because of the acts of their leaders and their governments, I think that’s a really slippery slope. I think the second you start to do that, there’s corrupt leaders and warmongers all over the…
— Serj Tankian-#SanctionAzerbaijan (@serjtankian) July 4, 2024
What happened?
Tankian wrote a letter asking the imagine Dragons that he would not perform in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, due to the country’s authoritarian government. Continuing the performance, for the singer, would be a way of “cleansing the image of the dictatorial regime” Ilham Aliyev. Serj also took to social media to make the request to the Las Vegas group, but was unsuccessful.
Upon discovering that he was not heard, the frontman of System of a Down made a series of criticisms of the members of imagine Dragons – formed by Dan Reynolds, Ben McKee It is Wayne Sermon. “Look, I’m not a judge for people to say where bands should or shouldn’t play,” he pondered in an interview with Metal Hammer (via NME). “I understand that they’re doing it for the money, that they’re artists, they’re entertaining and everything.”
But when there’s a government that’s about to commit ethnic cleansing, when Azerbaijan was starving 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and preventing them from getting food or medicine… You know, as an artist, if I had found out about that, there’s no way I could have gone and done that show. But some artists do. And I don’t know what to say about those artists. I don’t respect them as human beings. F*ck their art, they’re not good human beings, as far as I’m concerned.
View this photo on InstagramA post shared by Imagine Dragons (@imaginedragons)
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
