Ke$ha has issued an apology for the controversy surrounding her single “Die Young” in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre.
On Twitter, Ke$ha said she is “so so so sorry for anyone who has been effected (sic) by this tragedy and I understand why my song is now inappropriate. words cannot express.”
She also said she was against recording the track in the first place.
“I had my very own issue with ‘die young’” for this reason,” she wrote. ”I did NOT want to sing those lyrics and I was FORCED TO.”
The song had been pulled from several radio after Friday’s tragic event due to its lines like “We’re gonna die young.”
Figures released from Mediabase, a company that tracks radio airplay, are said to show the song plummeted in rankings after being cut from playlists. The single reportedly lost 19 million listeners from its target audience by Monday.
Similarly, TMZ reported that Foster the People’s popular hit “Pumped Up Kicks” has been removed from Los Angeles’ top music station KIIS-FM because of its explicit reference to a school shooting in its chorus.
“All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, / You better run, better run, outrun my gun. / All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, / You better run, better run, faster than my bullet.”
Lead singer Mark Foster has reportedly said the song was to help bring awareness to gun violence in schools and was partly inspired by the Columbine tragedy.