Ellen DeGeneres And Questlove Are Among 200 Celebrities Who Signed An Open Letter To Congress

This week’s cover of Billboard magazine is foregoing a customary portrait of a trending music industry figure in favor of a plea for Congress to address gun violence. Almost 200 celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Demi Lovato, Questlove, Zayn Malik, Andy Samberg, Barbara Streisand and even Yoko Ono literally co-signed an open letter to lawmakers demanding action.

AN OPEN LETTER TO CONGRESS:

STOP GUN VIOLENCE NOW

As leading artists and executives in the music industry, we are adding our voices to the chorus of Americans demanding change.

Music always has been celebrated communally, on dancefloors and at concert halls. But this life-affirming ritual, like so many other daily experiences—going to school or church or work—now is threatened, because of gun violence in this country.

The one thing that connects the recent tragedies in Orlando is that it is far too easy for dangerous people to get their hands on guns.

We call on Congress to do more to prevent the gun violence that kills more than 90 Americans every day and injures hundreds more, including:

Require a background check for every gun sale

Block suspected terrorists from buying guns

Billboard and the undersigned implore you—the people who are elected to represent us—to close the deadly loopholes that put the lives of so many music fans, and all of us, at risk.

The magazine worked with the anti-gun violence group Everytown for Gun Safety, which has been closely aligned with high profile figures such as Julianne Moore and Senator Charles Schumer of New York, to organize the effort.

And hey! This issue of Billboard might even end up as some light reading for Republican House of Representative members who opted to start their holiday break instead of taking some extra time to hammer out new gun control regulations!