Beyoncé, who rocked the music industry this month when she quietly released a now-blockbuster self-titled album, has incited a different kind of heat with new track "XO."
Sampling audio from the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster, "XO" brings still-fresh heartache to the surface for those who lost loved ones in the tragedy. Challenger exploded soon after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center, killing the seven crew members on board.
The "Crazy in Love" singer has been called "insensitive" by former and current NASA astronauts, Good Morning America reported.
"Flight controllers here looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction," now-retired NASA public affairs officer Steve Nesbitt said at the time on live television.
Nesbitt's voice can now be heard at the beginning of the new video for "XO," which was written and produced by Ryan Tedder and Terius Nash, who goes by the stage name The Dream.
According to GMA, Beyoncé's decision to use the six-second audio clip from the disaster has drawn fire from Challenger family members and NASA associates.
"We were disappointed to learn that an audio clip from the day we lost our heroic Challenger crew was used in the song 'XO,'" June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of Challenger Space Shuttle Commander Dick Scobee and a founder of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, told ABC News.
"The moment included in this song is an emotionally difficult one for the Challenger families, colleagues and friends. We have always chosen to focus not on how our loved ones were lost, but rather on how they lived and how their legacy lives on today."
For her part, Beyoncé has stated the song was intended to promote healing and serve as a reminder to appreciate loved ones.
"My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster," the singer said in an exclusive statement to ABC News. "The song 'XO' was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those who have lost loved ones and to remind us that unexpected things happen, so love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you.
"The songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten."
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