Beyonce slammed for sampling Challenger audio in new song

Beyonce's surprise visual album has received positive reviews from fans and critics alike, but one of the songs in the album has come under fire for featuring a sample from the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of 1986.

"XO" begins with the voice of retired NASA public affairs officer Steve Nesbitt saying, "Flight controllers here looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction."

Nesbitt's quote was taken from a clip recorded after the Challenger exploded after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center, killing all seven crew members aboard.

Beyonce's song has been deemed "insensitive" by some who suffered from the Challenger tragedy.

"The moment included in this song is an emotionally difficult one for the Challenger families, colleagues, and friends," said the widow of Challenger Commander Dick Scobee, June Scobee Rodgers. "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 the words to be used in the video is simply insensitive, at the very least," retired astronaut Clayton Anderson told ABC.

Queen B responded to the criticisms by claiming the song was recorded with the intention to "heal those affected" by the incident.

"My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster," she told Us Weekly in a statement. "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."

You can check out the official clip for "XO" below.

[Us Weekly]