Children’s advocacy groups immediately blasted Eminem for agreeing to share the stage with the controversial dinosaur, whose odious, insipid songs are anathema to parents across the country, especially those who have to take long car trips with small children.
“By singing a duet with Barney, Eminem is sending a message to kids everywhere that he approves of Barney’s so-called ‘music,’ " said Karen Curland of the Children’s Music Advocacy Project, one of the most virulently anti-Barney groups in the country. “This can only result in more and more kids singing along with Barney at the top of their lungs while their parents are trying to find a parking space at the mall.”
Recording-industry insiders speculated about Eminem’s motives for performing a duet with the embattled dinosaur, with many pointing a finger at the same culprit: demographics. “Eminem’s fans are 12 or 13 years old-in other words, aging,” said Dick Pelson, an A&R executive at Mercury Records. “Appearing onstage with Barney gives him instant credibility with 1- and 2-year-olds.”
Amid the gathering storm, Recording Academy President Michael Greene made an impassioned plea for tolerance.
“Barney’s songs may be more skin-crawling than nails on a chalkboard, or rubbing two balloons together,” Greene said. “And yet, our parents said the same thing about the singing of Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane. We may not like what Barney the Purple Dinosaur has to say-but to ignore his message would be folly.”
Throughout the controversy, Barney has remained unavailable for comment, but press spokesmen for the purple dinosaur indicated that he would giggle annoyingly for reporters at a later date.
