Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
Sheryl Crow has gotten rid of her Tesla in protest at the car company’s owner Elon Musk.
The 63 year-old Nashville-based musician referred to the controversial CEO and Trump advisor as “President Musk.”
She said she had also donated money to National Public Radio [NPR], which she described as being “under threat.”
Crow posted a video to her Instagram showing her waving goodbye to her Tesla. In the caption, she wrote: “My parents always said… you are who you hang out with.
“There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with. So long Tesla.
“Money donated to [NPR], which is under threat by President Musk, in hopes that the truth will continue to find its way to those willing to know the truth.”
Last week it was reported that Tesla sales are plunging worldwide amid Musk’s new role in the Trump White House.
Tesla sales in France fell 63 percent last month over the previous January, and sank 59.5 percent in Germany in the same month-to-month period amid a backlash against Musk over his support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. That was the worst January since 2021 for Tesla sales in Germany.
Sales were also down in the UK.
In China, one of the company’s largest markets, sales were down 11.5 percent in January year-over-year, while Tesla’s Chinese rival BYD hit a nearly 50 percent increase during the same period.
“There is an argument to be made that Tesla is beginning to be penalized for Musk’s close relationship to Trump,” Mike O’Rourke, chief market strategist at Jonestrading, wrote in a research note, Bloomberg noted.
Crow has long been known for her political outspokenness. Her 1998 album The Globe Sessions was banned from sale in Walmart stores across America because of a lyric on the song “Love is a Good Thing”, which she refused to change: “Watch our children as they kill each other / With a gun they bought at the Walmart discount stores”.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members)
Sign up
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members)
Sign up
Another track, the scathing protest song “Redemption Day”, was written after Crow played a USO (United Service Organisations) show to American peacekeepers in war-torn Bosnia and was struck that there had been no equivalent intervention by the US in the Rwandan genocide.
“At the time it was pretty graphic to see dead bodies in Rwanda on TV and to know that no one was stepping in to defend these people,” Crow told The Independent in 2021. “That was the impetus for writing the song.”
