Pink has performed on hundreds of stages throughout her career, so the one she took at the Democratic National Convention last week wasn’t all that unfamiliar to her. But it was a big step for Willow Sage Hart, her 13-year-old daughter who accompanied her to perform “What About Us” at the event. It wasn’t their first time performing together, but Pink knew just what to say to ease her daughter’s lingering nerves before they walked out to the packed audience.
“Just do your thing,” Pink told Willow backstage at the DNC, sharing the moment on Instagram a few days later. “Whatever you don’t sing, I will. It’s going to be brilliant.” Within seconds, they received their cue to head to the stage. The pair were joined by three backing vocalists and a guitarist for a stripped-down version of the roaring pop hit. After delivering her first lyrics in the song, Willow was met with applause from the audience and a beaming smile from her mother.
Just before Pink’s performance, a handful of individuals who have been impacted by gun violence — from survivors to family members — delivered a powerful set of speeches calling for gun reform. “Our losses do not weaken us. They strengthen our resolve,” said Rep. Lucy McBath, whose son died as a result of gun violence. “We will secure safer futures that we all deserve. We will organize. We will advocate. We will run for office.”
The other speakers included Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting survivor Abbey Clements as well as Kim Rubio, whose daughter was killed in the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting. Gun violence survivors Melody McFadden and Edgar Vilchez also appeared on stage together. “Parents reach out for their children,” Rubio shared. “I reach out for the child I will never hold again.”
Back in 2019, Pink received backlash from conservative figures after reposting the Brian Bilston poem “America Is a Gun,” which reads: “England is a cup of tea/ France, a wheel of ripened brie/ Greece, a short, squat olive tree/ America is a gun … Japan is a thermal spring/ Scotland is a highland fling/ Oh, better to be anything/ than America as a gun.”
At the time, the Fox News contributor Britt McHenry shared a since-deleted tweet that read: “There is nothing ‘better’ to be than an American. In our turmoil, weaknesses, struggle, unit is what we need now. I believe that @pink. America is the country that loves you and helped make you into a star. As a fan of your music, this disappoints me.”
The singer responded with a swift and direct defense. “I believe there is nothing ‘better’ than being a human being,” Pink said. “Each country has their beauty,+their struggles. We should all be thinking humans first. And I also believe art is meant to cause dialogue, which the posting of this poem just did. Dissent is the cornerstone of democracy.”
