Birthday greetings would normally elicit positive warm responses from the celebrant, as well as from the people around and to the ones related to him. However, things might not be true when it comes to the birthday greeting posted via social media of one of the members of the world-renowned pop rock band, Maroon 5.
Jesse Carmichael, best known as the keyboardist, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of Maroon 5, was placed on public scrutiny after the alleged comment he made regarding 80th birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader. Carmichael's tweet allegedly read as: "Happy Birthday America (and The Dalai Lama too) sang happy birthday to his holiness today with a...". And this tweet according to some online speculations made by fans was not left unnoticed by the Chinese government and lead to the cancellation of their concert tour in China.
Though such speculations were not backed up with enough data, it is still being considered by most Chinese fans as the main reason for the shows cancellation. However, such reason is neither denied nor affirmed by the organizer of the event, Live Nation. The said organizer offered no clear reason and only vague worded statements as they apologized to the public and promised the quick refund for ticket buyers.
As a background, it can be recalled that the uniqueness of perspectives between the Dalai Lama and the Communist Republic of China was long rooted on the Dalia Lama's battle for Tibetan independence. For such reason, the Nobel peace laureate, is despised by China, and is seen not as a spiritual leader, but as a political threat and a separatist.
If the said tweet really caused the cancellation of the concert in China, then Maroon 5 would only be added to the list of artists whose concerts were banned or cancelled. The most notable ones were the supposed appearances of Bjork, the Icelandic singer, Linkin Park and Oasis band. The said concerts having separate dates and venues were banned by Chinese government for they were associating themselves with the Dalai Lama prior to their said events.
The online world has many theories on the said occurrence, but do you think the tweet made by a band member caused this entire ruckus and even the cancellation of the concert? Feel free to share your thoughts on the issue.
