Slash, Melissa Etheridge, Jack Black Protest California's Prop 8

Two months ago, voters in California approved Proposition 8, which banned same sex marriage in the state. Since then, a wave of protests have popped up throughout the state in opposition to the new law. Many rockers have weighed in on the situation, including Slash, who made the video above with his wife Perla to drum up support for a protest several weeks ago. "I married my sweetheart," Perla says as her husband plays "The Star-Spangled Banner" in the background. "You should be able to marry yours too."

Others have joined in the fight. Melissa Etheridge, who posted a long anti-Prop 8 screed on her website in the days before the election, has vowed to not pay taxes as long as Prop 8 is law. "Okay, I get it," she writes. "51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books." Meanwhile, new dad Pete Wentz issued a statement that said, "I believe that this is, and has always been, a civil rights issue. We should not allow inequality like this in America." Christina Aguilera also called the decision "descrimination."

Composer Marc Shaiman has gone a step further, recruiting Tenacious D's Jack Black and Walk Hard star John C. Reilly for "Proposition 8 - The Musical," which recently premiered online at FunnyOrDie.com. It features the argument over gay marriage in song, until Neil Patrick Harris shows up to remind everybody that gay marriage could fix the economy. Check it out below.

Related Stories:
• Same Sex Setback: Why the Activists Who Opposed Proposition 8 Ran a Lousy Campaign
• Melissa Etheridge Blasts California's Prop 8 as "Blatantly Hateful"

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter